Coping Skills For Challenging Times

Good coping skills help when dealing with adversity or challenging times. This list was developed during one of the most challenging periods of my life. I survived the lost of my last living uncle, the restructure of my position at work, negative office politics, brain surgery, and the loss of hearing in my right ear all within an 18 month time period. Please pick and choose what may work best for you.

Coping Skills 1, 2, 3, 4:

1. Develop a personal relationship with God - I have always believed that we are never given more than we can handle. I strongly believe that God brings challenges in our lives to bring us closer to him - as well as to grow our faith. During my extremely challenging time, I placed my fears, my frustrations, and everything else with God. I can honestly say, he has never let me down yet.

2. Pray, pray, and pray - Prayer helped me talk through the many different emotions I experienced. Prayer also renewed my strength and provided hope. Out of my entire list of coping skills - this is the strategy I used the most.

3. Fake it - It is hard to pretend everything is all right when everything seems to be falling apart. However, I do believe that my thoughts dictate my actions. In every single one of the challenging situations I mention above, I imagined the ideal way I wanted to handle the situation. I imagined my reaction repeatedly in my mind. This strategy worked like a charm after brain surgery.

4. Exercise - Exercise helped clear my mind and provided much needed energy.

Coping Skills 5, 6, 7, 8:

5. Acknowledge the problem or challenge - Hiding or ignoring a challenge or problem causes it to fester and adds more stress. Once I acknowledged the challenge and problems, I was able to effectively deal with them.

6. Use positive suggestions - I refused to allow my circumstances to pull me down and keep me there. I have learned that we all experience different seasons in life - most of which are temporary. I chose to focus on the good things ahead. I considered my current challenges and problems as stepping stones for better things to come.

7. Talk about it with people who care - Talking through challenges and problems helped me find perspective.

8. Focus on self improvement - My reasons for focusing on self improvement were simple. If I wanted to change my situation for the better, then I needed to change for the better. Just as importantly, I am better equipped to deal with future challenges and problems.

Coping Skills 9, 10, 11:

9. Express gratitude - Instead of focusing on the negative things happening to me, I focused on all of the things I still had to be grateful for. Believe me when I tell you - no matter how challenging the situation there is always somebody in the world who is worse off.

10. Cry - I refused to run away from my emotions. I acknowledged them and allowed myself to cry. I felt relief and less tension which made it easier to cope.

11. Find joy in small things in life, - This was one of my best discoveries. I have always been so busy that I never noticed the small joys around me; such as, a young couple holding hands, the beauty of the leaves in the fall, the way the sun reflects off of a flowing river, or the positive outlook that many children with disabilities possess.

Just remember, dealing with adversity is something everyone must do. No matter what you are going through, remember such experiences make us become stronger better people. Regardless of your current situation, you CAN overcome.

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