7 Ways to deal with hard situations (Including Corona-Virus)

7 ways to deal with hard situations

1. Take a breath

I know this sounds ridiculous in the first place. Right now in your head you are like '' I just broke up with a 5-year relationship /got fired / found out my mom has cancer, how am I supposed to take a breath?''. TAKE A BREATH. You will keep breathing eitherway, so do it effectively. Take some time to realise the new situation, whatever it may be. Right it down if necessary. The situation, the problem arising & your feeling about it. In my experience the more surprised you are the more difficult it is to handle anything. So, take a breath, take no action and make the realisation of the new status quo of things.

2. Think how things got where they are

First step to find the solution to any problem, is to find the cause of the problem. Make the following questions to yourself (with this turn) :
1. Am I responsible for this problem? Yes or no & please be specific while you justify your answer. Most of the times we are responsible somehow even if we did not take actions to make us responsible. Well, there are exceptions of course, mostly related to health or misfortune issues.
2. What's my part of the responsibility? Same thing applies here. Most of the time you have partial responsibility. Find your part & define it very very well.
3. Is this a mistake I have made before or I usually make? Considering this, regarding to your responsibility part you will realise that most of the times is one or more certain characteristics of your personality that lead to this type of problem. I call it ''the pattern''.
4. Were there any external causes for this? Write them down.

3. Have a drink

Sounds immature I know. But I don't mean what you think. I don't mean get wasted, party to forget or have random one night stands (although I have to admit it helps temporarily). What I want to acheive with suggesting treating yourself a drink is to make you relax for a while & make sure you have made the steps 1 & 2 and it is clear in your mind that  things are as they are because of a reason. If drinking is not your thing do what relaxes you. It may be yoga, meditation, a movie or the one-night stand mentioned above.

4. Talk with someone whose opinion you trust

It might be your partner, your parents , your best friend. During the explanation of the issue you must be as objective as possible & analyse every single detail of the current situation. It will be helpful for two reasons: 
1) By hearing yourself telling the story you will realise one more time the current situation & its causes & also you ''ll come up with ideas to deal with it.
2)The person/People who listen to you will give you their ideas of how to figure out a solution. He/she will have a different perspective on this and it will give you new options. Remember: the more you discuss about it, the more relief you feel and the more solutions you get.

5. Write down your options

Literally write them down & read them. I know you think about the options and you have them in mind but this is not the same, because our mind is quite often a mess when our heart is in pain. It is really important to write down every single option and examine later its possibilities to work. Do not underestimate a thought that seemed stupid in the first place. Also, keep this list of options at your sight (your phone, diary, calendar). 

6. Start trying to take action about this matter

Remember the list I mentioned above? Rate your option from best to worst and start taking the necessary action towards the suggested solution. I ''ll give an example for this.Hypothetically you broke up with your relationship and you have the following list of how to get over it:
1) Be creative, focus on myself
2) Start to re-bound dating
3) Drink to death.
My method is to start with your number 1 on your list, give it some time and if it does not work move to solution number 2 and number 3. You can mix up solutions if this helps, even if they are completely different.Whatever it takes, just take action towards a direction.

7.''The let it go technique''

I know that even If we do everything right, even if we have the best people to support us and the strongest will, sometimes nothing seems to make us feel better or able to manage the situation. I can completely understand this feeling. When your heart is broken, when you have healthy problems that can not be ever completely solved, or when someone you loved passes away. I get it, no matter how hard you try & how much you want, there is nothing you can do. This is where it comes, what I like to call ''The let it go technique''. Let yourself be sad as long as it takes and after you have made sure you have done ANYTHING YOU COULD take a deep breath and let it go. Remember : If it comes, it comes. If it goes, let it go.

-Ellie Spyropoulou