Learn Helpful Tips to Navigate Your Life
Try a free 20-minute introductory coaching session

Email Me

Read My Blog

Discover more about life and its ever-changing journey by reading my blog. Full of helpful tips to keep you on the right path and concurring life’s’ challenges. Contact me at It’s Your Life in Brampton, Ontario for more information.

Facing Adversity

I was searching the internet for some inspiration about overcoming adversity when I came upon this quote by John Moore;

“Why do we dread adversity when we know that facing it is the only way to become stronger, smarter, better?”

If this is the first time, you’re faced with something that scares you and your first instinct is to retreat to your bed and throw the covers over your head, then this quote might not make sense to you.

“Why would I want to face adversity and potentially have bad things happen to me?” you may wonder. It’s because you come out the other side better than you were before. This is especially true if you can look back and take an honest look at how you handled it.

If you stomp around like a toddler having a fit, took out your frustrations on everyone you know, or self-medicated to suffer through it, you haven’t really grown and improved. But if you accepted the bad times for what they are and tried to see the positive even when it didn’t seem like it was going to work out, then you made it through like a champ. Pat yourself on the back and realize you can overcome anything that life throws at you.

Here are some tips that will help you get through the rough times:

1. Have a positive mindset. This may take a bit of “fake-it-til-you-make-it” but soon your outcome will change for the better.

2. Don’t make excuses. Excuses are just as bad as hiding under your bed covers. Accept it for what it is and make a conscious effort to move forward.

3. Have faith. Whether you are religious or not, having faith in God or a higher power goes a long way to making the journey more bearable.

4. Take it one day, one task, one problem at a time. Not everything can be tackled in one day. Don’t overwhelm yourself thinking everything needs to change at once. Pick three important tasks at the beginning of each day and get them done. If you have extra time, great, tackle something more. If you run out of time, appreciate what you accomplished and pick up where you left off the next day.

5. Celebrate every victory. During difficult times it’s important to celebrate the little things. Take a break in between tasks, treat yourself to something special, or spend time with friends or family.

Speaking Your Truth

Speak your truth means be true to oneself. It means to be sincere. “Speak your truth,” means to speak what is true to you. That is to be true and honest in one's opinions in what one thinks and/or feels about something whatever the topic or issue is; to be real in expressing one's truth.

Don’t confuse this with the negative truth we all have milling around in our heads. It’s not productive or helpful to your life journey to get stuck with negative self-talk. Speak your truth about what you want out of life. How you see yourself in the future. If you don’t know what that is, try picking traits of the people you admire and figure out how you can adopt that trait within yourself.

Remember that it’s ok to disagree with someone or to have someone disagree with you— these are what are great about being human. You can have your own opinion and others can have theirs. You won’t agree with everyone about everything and that’s ok. Accept yourself for who you are and who you want to be and accept others for who they are without judgement.

It’s not ok to force your opinion onto others. They may choose to agree with you by choice. Others will not respect your opinion if it’s forced upon them. Be open-minded, put yourself in their shoes, learn about their background and be respectful.

Stuck Inside My Mind, Ten Ways to Get Out of Your Own Head

I’m sure that everyone is feeling stuck inside their own mind because of our new normal of social distancing and self-isolation. That’s the last thing you want to hear.

”Everyone is feeling that way.”

You want to know that you are being heard and that your opinion matters during this stressful time or anytime. Here are some ways for you to connect with others:

1. Text a friend, stay connected
2. Call a relative, especially someone who lives alone
3. Start a group chat. Ask others how they are feeling
4. Start a journal. This is the best time to get those feelings out of your head and onto paper
5. Read a book. This is a great stress reliever; you can get out of your own world and into another
6. Write a story about someone who is in the same predicament. Tell the story from your or their point of view
7. Write a poem about social distancing or self-isolation, feel the real feelings and put them onto paper

8. Talk to your parents, they are dying to hear from you. Trust me, we’re always wondering what’s going on in your mind. Express yourself and you’ll be surprised what you can learn about yourself and them
9. Talk to your siblings. I’m sure your brother(s) and sister(s) are feeling the same way. Reach out, maybe start a family meeting, talk it through, get all the facts and make a plan on how to cope together.
10. Talk to another adult you trust. Do you have an aunt, uncle or neighbour that you connect with? Reach out to them by phone or text. Tell them how you are feeling and get it off your chest.

Testimonial Form