8 Ways To Stay Strong During Tough Times

Dr. Ankit Sharma, PhD

2 years ago

It is hard to always stay strong. Even our beloved superheroes often fail to do that. We saw how our merc-with-a-mouth in red spandex, Deadpool took a catnap on the barrels of gasoline in Deadpool 2 (2018) after losing his wife & hope. Guess what? They bounced back. We don’t have regeneration abilities like Deadpool, but after being broken into thousand pieces, we can pick those pieces up & make a new us. We can hold on tight & explore some Ways To Stay Strong no matter what life throws at us.

Ways To Stay Strong

1. Don’t Fight The Feeling

After running into hurdles, facing hardships, or losing someone or something, it is quite natural to feel sad or depressed. Don’t fight that feeling. It is your feeling & you have every right to acknowledge & embrace it. The harder you fight, the harder it will hurt you. You can’t put on a fake smile & pretend as if nothing has happened for long.

Instead, accept the feeling & try to vent it out. Cry if you want to. Lock yourself in a room, grab a pillow & cry your heart out. After some minutes of it, you will start to feel better & lighter inside.

If you keep these feeling pent up within, you can’t predict when they will burst out of you. They may burst out in an undesired time or inappropriate situation. Therefore, it is better to let them all out.

2. Admit Some Situations Are Beyond Your Control

Controlling everything is not always possible, no matter how carefully you plan your life or how tactfully you are driving it. Accidents happen. There are always some unforeseen situations or unpredictable events that derail us. One of the best Ways To Stay Strong is to accept such events. Accept you can’t always control everything.

It is evident that acceptance is the last stage of grief. If you accept it, that means you are ready to move on. No one predicted the recent pandemic. Thousands of people lost their loved ones, jobs, and business. But life always finds its’ way. Though the situation wasn’t in our control initially, we fought back, hoping that better days would come. That’s what we need to do when facing tough times.

3. Keep A Strength Perspective

When you are feeling down, do you feel like everything is going against you in your life? Being able to recognize your strengths of you is very vital for one’s mental health & overall viewpoint on life. Regardless of the type or significance of the strength, it is essential to recognize them when you are feeling down.

For instance, having a supportive family or friends is a strength. Other strengths include time management skills, professionalism, academics, & many more. Having gratitude is good for your mental & physical health.

4. Practice Gratitude

You may be facing hardships, or you may be losing someone beloved. But consider the fact you still have things to be thankful for. While you are mourning the loss of a beloved one, think of the 10 years old war orphan who lost his entire family in a bombing.

While you are upset about losing your business, think about the 80 years old owner of a small shop whose entire family was dependent on him & lost his shop in the devastating earthquake in Turkey.

You may not realize it, but if you have three meals a day & have a roof over your head, you are already more privileged than many people on Earth. If you have a healthy body, you are already luckier than people counting their last in hospital beds.

Make a list of things you have despite having hard times & look at the list. You will find out how fortunate you are & that list will help you to have a positive mind.

5. Challenge Your Negative Thinking

During hard situations, it is sometimes challenging to stay calm & positive. Providing yourself a moment to recover & look at the bigger picture, whether your strategy is taking a break or going on a walk, can be helpful.

Once you are tranquil, ask yourself, “what approach can I take to be more positive about this?” Challenge yourself continuously. Think of other options or optimistic perspectives instead of only the negatives.

6. Learn More About Yourself

Knowing your emotions and how you react to particular stressors is vital when staying positive. The capability to predict when you are feeling overwhelmed or anxious is the first step. By becoming aware of your emotions, you can prevent particular emotions from heavily affecting your life & staying positive.

For instance, you can integrate coping mechanisms or self-care activities that particularly work for you. For instance, taking a break or walking can calm you down & help you think reasonably & optimistically.

7. Don’t Be Shy To Ask For Help

Sometimes, it is normal to feel broken, hopeless, and out of track. In such situations, never be afraid or shy to ask for help from your trusted people. It is okay to show your vulnerable side to people you trust.

Your family member, friends, and spouse, who love and support you, would be glad that you went to them in such a situation; it will strengthen the bond. They will try to help you & bring back your spirit at their best. Because they know you would have done the same for them.

8. Look For Inspiration

Looking for inspiration is an excellent answer to How to Be Mentally Strong in tough times? Those inspirations can come from anywhere. Your family member, colleague, friend, national hero, book, podcast, or anything. Finding inspiration from others can do wonders, particularly from someone who has faced similar circumstances or some work narrating your situation.

Learning the mantra to stay strong from those can be effective & an excellent aid for maintaining your spirit. Many kinds of literature in the fiction, non-fiction & biography genre describe the essential values & techniques to stay strong in times of hardship. Pick any of them & start collecting inspirations.

Things NOT TO DO In Tough Times

Learning Ways To Stay Strong in tough times is not enough. Learning things not to do in difficult times is also essential. You must not do some things in hard times; it will only worsen the situation: