When something bad happens to you it can be easy to ask Why me? , these type of thoughts can consume us, but they don’t have to. A bit of good can always come out of bad situations, especially if we’re mindful about how we treat our experiences. So what can we do when we find ourselves in this type of situation? We navigate through them and keep looking to the future.
1. Stop Reliving the Past
Every time you tell the story of what happened to you, you’re reliving the past, you’re brining up old feelings and not focusing on living in the now. Although telling your story can get you the support and encouragement to move on, at the same time it can also prevent you from looking forward, and encourages more negative thinking.
Try not to let the drama get the best of you. If someone asks you about what happened, instead of going into detail of how you were wronged, come up with a simple response. If you went through a breakup, reply with something like we were just both looking for something different out of the relationship. Come up with something that’s straight and to the point, but still true.
2. Don’t Play the Blame Game
What if I had done this differently? What if I focused more? Why couldn’t they understand? Why did he/she do this to me?
These questions aren’t going to change anything. Instead of focusing on what could have been done, mindfully turn you focus to what you can do now!
3. Find Acceptance
After something bad happens, there’s nothing you can do but accept it and move forward.
Once we’re able to accept whatever bad has happened to us, we’re able to focus our energy on what’s happening now and explore new opportunities. That’s not to say you have to be happy about what happened, you don’t have to love the situation you’re currently in, but you have to accept what happened and move on.
4. Learn a Lesson
Every time something bad happens in our lives there’s a teachable moment, a lesson to be learned. A breakup might mean more time to focus on your career and get that promotion you’ve been looking for, or maybe it means more free-time that allows you to find your true love of your life. Your lesson might not be instantly clear, but it will come in time.
5. Keep Your Vision in Mind
Think about what you really want in life, whether it’s a long-term or short-term, what do you want out of life?
Mindfully shift your energy into reaching that goal, create a new vision for yourself to keep yourself from looking back. You have to remember that change, although difficult, isn’t always a bad thing, and you can create a lot of good out of bad.
