Life is like riding a roller coaster. Imagine yourself strapped into that car chugging up the rickety rails to the top and in an instant you are plunging down so fast your knuckles are white from gripping the safety bar, you feel your heart pounding like thunder in your chest, the wind plasters your hair against your head, and your mouth is open wide as you let out a terrifying scream.
Life, just like a roller coaster it has its ups and downs. You may even experience a few twists and turns along the journey.
Nancy Dadami
Sometimes the downs are personal and sometimes they are environmental. Loss of a loved one, a cancer diagnosis, unhealthy air quality caused by fire storms, and draining or stagnant energy in your home.
Whenever something disturbing happens staying focused can be a challenge.
Here are 10 tips to help you stay focused even during difficult times.
- Give Yourself a Break – Take a deep breath, hold, and slowly exhale. Do that 3 times and let your body relax. Feel your neck and shoulders let go, your belly relax, and your mind find calmness. I’m not saying to ignore how you feel. You’re allowed to have bad days and feel your feelings. It’s good to feel the emotions you feel and let them out though talking, crying, journaling, or creating intentional art. The secret is not to wallow in those feelings for days.
- Set a “Worry” Time Limit – Set time limits to letting loose of your feelings and feeling all the things you need. Maybe you choose 10 minutes during your day where you won’t be interrupted and let your feelings out. You can even set many time limits. For example, if you must get through a day of work or an emotional difficulty, set a time later for feeling all the feelings so that you can get through your current situation.
- Sleep Well – This can be a hard thing to do when you’re having a tough time in life, but you must try to make your sleep a priority in good and bad times. You can always catch up later when it’s vital that you are awake. A power nap might be the right action to help you catch up on sleep.
- Eat Right – When a crisis is occurring your body processes are in high alert. It’s not the time to start eating unhealthy food. It’s a time that you want to take great care of your body by providing it with the fuel it needs. Set a schedule and make sure you’re eating enough good nutrition and calories to give yourself fuel. It is a time to get more vegetables, fruits, water, and good quality protein.
- Keep Exercising – It may be even more important now to find time for your walks than at any other time. Walking in nature or your neighborhood burns off stress and worry. Exercise even helps you sleep better, feel more positive, and is a great way to get through hard times
- Be Mindful – It’s easy to get distracted when your emotions are being affected by what is happening in your life or the world. However, before you start a new activity, always take time to center yourself with a good deep breath so that you can be mindful of what is happening right this moment. The issue may still be there when you are centered and you will be calmer in dealing with it.
- Keep an “I’m okay” Journal – When things are bad, it’s hard to feel like anything will ever be okay again. However, most of the time, you can find some things that are at least okay about your day, if not something to be outright grateful for now. An I’m Okay journal helps you focus on what is going well in your life. The more you focus on what is going well the better you will feel.
- Clean Up Your Environment – Allowing your environment to get cluttered and dirty when the world is crumbling around you seems like a natural thing to do, but the truth is, it makes things worse. Clutter robs you of your physical and emotional energy, causing you to feel scattered, frustrated, and overwhelmed. Set a regular time that you keep your environment clean because that’s going to help you feel more in control, confident and successful.
- Get Rid of Distractions – Turn off your phone, social media, and the radio or TV when you’re doing certain activities. If you need to focus, don’t do other things. Research shows that doing multiple tasks is stressful to your brain. Even listening to music can cause you to miss out on essential points. Anything worth doing is worth doing 100 percent.
- Ask for Help – If you are having trouble controlling your thoughts and nothing you try is working after a few days, you may want to ask for help. Counselors, life coaches, and soul menotrs can help you through difficult times so that you can focus on the other things that are important to you.
A life well-lived is going to have difficult times. The rollercoaster of life is what makes it exciting, that is how learn. Going through challenges helps you grow. You feel new emotions, try new things, and come out better for the experience, even if it felt impossible while it was happening.
Everything passes eventually, and you can get through difficult times without losing focus on what is important to you. Hold onto that safety bar as your rollercoaster car is diving. You will make it.
NANCY DADAMI – is transforming the way spirited women function in their surroundings. I teach smart busy business owners to create workspaces that make their heart sing, empower their work and shorten their path to success. As a Feng Shui Consultant, Energy Reader and Soul Flow Artist, I help you understand “the flow” and find Peace of Mind in your life and business. See her personal website here https://nancydadami.com.
Listen to A Loving Kindness Meditation here https://nancydadami.com/LKM
Imagine yourself in a place that makes you feel relaxed, comfortable and happy. You may find yourself at the beach, in a painting class, or in your living room listening to music. You know what it feels like to be in harmony.
During our discovery session, she told me she felt “stuck” and unable to move forward in her life. Her romantic relationship was in a holding pattern. She was not getting new clients in her business, and she was running out of money, she did not know what to do.