With all the things that are happening inside the world and/or in your personal life, it can be hard to not let it get to you. Days and weeks may pass without you realizing how much you are affected by things. No matter what’s going on in your life, there are always some ways to find back a sense of peace. These are no complete problem-solvers, but they are definitely there for you when it all seems to get too much. They help me every time, even if it's just for a small moment during the day :). Maybe some will be helpful to you too.
1. When I’m working and feeling stressed out, I step away from what I’m doing for a couple of minutes. This might go against your instincts to ‘just keep going because then I’ll be done sooner’, but it helps me every time. I sit on the couch for a bit, breath, have a drink, and completely focus on that. On just being. I allow myself to not do anything for a couple of minutes. I also regularly take half an hour or one hour breaks, but let’s say you can’t do that – then those few minutes could already make a difference.
2. I try to think about what I can do about a situation and what, especially, I can’t. Sometimes I can get carried away by what’s happening in the world or my personal life, and I have to keep telling myself that I can’t carry the weight of it all. Nobody can. Or should. More often nowadays I’m trying to switch my mindset and look at the things I CAN do. Because by worrying and feeling sorry for others, I don’t contribute to anyone’s safety or happiness. And I’m taking away my own too. Right now, with the situation of Ukrain, this means that I try to focus more on how I’m able to help instead of thinking all the time about the terrible things that are happening. It’s really a practice and it’s not working perfectly all the time (because, well, we’re HUMAN right?!), but it’s worth trying to shift your focus.
3. Then there’s one last tip that I use whenever I’m feeling sad, lonely or empty. On these moments, it may feel like that feeling will never go away. It can be all-consuming and you may feel helpless. What really has been helping me immensely lately, is thinking about how everything will be better in either some minutes, some days, or some weeks. No feeling lasts forever and I’ve experienced that over and over and over. Every time I was sad, amazingly happy memories followed. Every time I felt lonely, I felt extremely connected some time after. It's all temporary
Love,
Lobke