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Your Choices Can Help You to Remain Upbeat During a Difficult Time

You can choose to see light even when it all seems dark.

By Madoc MPublished 2 years ago 6 min read
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Your Choices Can Help You to Remain Upbeat During a Difficult Time
Photo by Jonathan Daniels on Unsplash

Making the right choices each day and living by them helps to sustain the good things you have in your life. It also allows you to live a life that benefits you.

Some people owing to the choices they make each day live with much heaviness. While individuals that make healthy choices live a life that is filled with peace and happiness.

And it doesn’t mean that there are no uncomfortable situations in their lives to induce heaviness. Most times there are, but their healthy choices help them to live above unpleasant situations.

“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.”—Roger Crawford

I went over to my cousin’s place this January. He was going through a difficult time after being jilted by his fiancée— and losing a lot of money in an investment that went awry.

What surprised me when I met him was his energy level. I had imagined that I’d meet him down in the dumps. I thought he’d be pining over his ex and brooding over the money he lost. But that didn’t happen.

Rather I met him smiling a real smile. He didn’t come across as someone that was dealing with issues that are capable of putting an individual down.

And when inquired how he managed to appear very relaxed — and collected. He responded that he had to choose not to allow his losses to affect how he goes about his life. That there’s still life after losses. I nodded in affirmation as we began to talk about different things.

***

My cousin refused to allow his life to be chained to his losses. And he achieved this by choosing to release control to what he cannot control. Taking each day one step at a time.

He didn’t allow pains and losses to deny him the joy of every day. So he chose to create a daily routine that gives him a better life experience. That helps him to cope with the difficult situation.

He plays the guitar. He attends fellowship and exercises regularly. He also keeps a scheduled visit with his counselors.

He was able to live a lifestyle that sprinkles positive energy into his life through these activities.

As a result, he could smile a real smile amid calamities. His losses haven’t suddenly disappeared, but his new lifestyle is helping him to cope and to go through it helpfully.

***

How you understand a situation matters a lot. If you look at it in a one dimensional way then you may find yourself having unhelpful thoughts like:

* This is it.

* My life is over.

* I may never have a beautiful relationship again.

* I may never be happy again.

But if you take some time to take stock of the situation, you’ll then begin to see it as a surmountable challenge that has littered many valuable lessons into your life.

You’ll acknowledge it as a challenge that has come to strengthen you and not to destroy you.

Accept everything that is going on in your life.

The mistake I made when I faced similar losses like my cousin was that I spent time trying to fix the situation. Acceptance is your way of inviting peace to reign in your life. Doing this allows you to release the burden of guilt, self-blame, regrets, etc.

It’s also how you create the path for letting go because you can’t let go when you’re still in denial of the situation. Or when you’re still trying to fix it.

***

Focus on what might be helpful

Next will be to focus on what might be helpful. Anything that could be of benefit when you’re going through hard times will give you an emotional lift that will power you in the right direction.

It could be something you previously abandoned because of your schedule or commitments. Or something you once gave up for an individual that doesn’t deserve such sacrifice from you. Now you’re going to take it back. Treasure it and never let it go.

When you choose to be happy amid difficulties, you begin to see that there are many reasons to be happy. This choice would allow you to find happiness in small things. And in activities, you never thought of.

Understand why you have to let go.

One sure way to see something new is to forget old things. Old things could be blinding. And the more you hang on to them, the more they blur your path and stop you from having new — and better life experiences.

Another way is to live a lifestyle that is devoid of worries. Frets have never solved any problem and never will. So it pays to let the worries go. You let go of everything that drains you emotionally.

Doing this will allow you to see all those beautiful things that have always been around you.

Choosing to be upbeat when going through hard times doesn’t put a hard time away. But making this choice and acting on it will surely help you to go through tough times in a better way.

***

Conclusion

Always remember that there’s still a life to live after calamities. And you shouldn’t deny yourself this life by choosing not to release control to things that you cannot control.

You must give yourself time to grieve for your loss or losses so that you’ll have the strength to let go and move on. Don’t put up a front like everything is all right.

And no one will tell you how to grieve or how long it should last.

“Your beliefs affect your choices. Your choices shape your actions. Your actions determine your results. The future you create depends upon the choices you make and the actions you take today.”—Roy T. Bennett

You make choices every day of your life. You hand yourself the keys to unlock the good doors for yourself. You make the choices that sustain the good things you have in your life. You make the choices that ensure that you’ll live a life that benefits you.

Similarly every day of your life you also hand yourself chains that could stop you from living a good life — by choosing not to let go. And by doing those things that don’t benefit you.

What choices are you going to make today? To open the right doors for yourself? Or to continue to keep yourself restricted by making unhelpful choices?

If you want to live a life that you can look back to and be happy for, then you have no other way to achieve that, but by making more right choices in your life. You must make a lot of right choices. And act on those choices.

You can flourish despite your flaws. You can thrive regardless of whatever that life throws at you.

Those frailties didn’t tarnish your flairs. And those losses didn’t shut the doors of your blessings — and happiness.

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About the Creator

Madoc M

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