In a split-second, we can get news that turns our life upside down when everything was going smoothly and felt stress-free. Things like job loss, illness and household tensions make it very hard to have a cheerful outlook, because everything in your perception tells you to show anything but a happy attitude.
However, the more you’re able to reshape your perspective and see that there really are reasons to keep moving forward, the more quickly you’ll be able to put your life back on track. Keep reading to get five practical strategies for picking yourself back up when life has kicked you down.
1. Remember The Things For Which You Are Thankful
It’s important to keep yourself grounded by keeping in mind certain things about your life for which you have gratitude. If you’re going through a particularly rough patch, the best you may only be able to do is to tell yourself you’re thankful to be alive, because at least that means there’s a chance things could improve tomorrow. No matter what, concentrate on coming up with several things you are grateful for in life and mentally refer back to it as necessary.
2. Confide In Friends
When life gets hectic, it’s common to feel very alone and as if there is no one else in the world going through precisely with what you’re dealing. Although there may not be anyone in your circle of friends who has gone through the exact challenge, chances are good that most people in your life have gone through more than a few trials of their own and have some worthy advice for helping you keep your chin up. If the difficulties you’re going through are very personal, you may be hesitant to talk to them to people you don’t know well. In those cases, reach out to a best friend and just keep things between the two of you.
3. Write A Journal
Expressing your thoughts is a healthy way to start to process your situation and work your way through it. Consider starting a journal and writing in it every day. Some of the things you jot down may not seem especially purposeful, but it’s often very therapeutic to write whatever’s on your mind without putting a lot of prior thought into what you compose. That sort of free writing can be extremely cleansing. When you feel up to it, refer back to what you’ve written. As time passes, you’ll probably be able to notice positive trends that indicate you’re doing better with handling whatever life has given to you, even if you didn’t feel very much improvement at the time you wrote the words.
4. Commune With A Higher Power
If you have a religious background or even just a habit of looking to something that’s bigger than you are, it can be very helpful to spend some time with that higher power, whether it is through prayer, meditation, time spent in nature or something similar. When you’re in the middle of something that’s sent your life into a tailspin, it’s often very difficult to make sense of what’s happening and why. You may not figure out the answers to those questions right away, but many people find that private reflection is a good way to start sorting things out.
5. Live In The Present
When life goes seemingly wrong, many people blame themselves, thinking that if only they’d gone about things differently, the predicament they now find themselves in would never have happened. Even if you are somehow partially at fault for what you’re dealing with, nothing good can come from 
wallowing in regret over things that have already happened. You can’t go back and change the past, even though it may be possible to make amends in some situations. With that in mind, gently force yourself to live in the present moment, rather than dwelling on the past or worrying over what the future holds.
Hitting the reset button on your life after something bad has happened isn’t easy, and it’s also not something you can do overnight. However, this list should be very helpful in enabling you to make positive strides toward a brighter future.
