How to cope with scary changes
When life gives you changes, deal with them!
To be completely honest with you, I think I wrote this article more as something I would tell myself when I feel like things are out of control. But then I thought this might be helpful for others who are going through similar experiences too.
Even when we choose to make a change, our balance and health are quite affected. But when the change occurs unexpectedly, it can easily turn into a total disaster.
There are a large variety of changes that can shake our reality pretty badly: moving to a different city/country, a breakup, a job change, moving to a different house/apartment. All these are playing hard with our daily routine, with our life as we know it and with the way our future is about to be shaped.
I’ve been through some changes in the past two years and I know it’s never easy in the beginning. Changes are good, but let’s admit it: it never feels like that when it actually happens.
I’ve moved away from the country I loved and I started right away a new job back home. Just eight months later, I started looking for another job, going through the nightmare of figuring out what I want to do with my career, going through a series of tests and interviews and not finding easily a place where I fit. Right now I find myself in the same position of figuring out what’s next.
When going through such situations, anxiety feels like home in our system, depression finds its way to our brain easily, the sensation of fear takes over, gently covering any traces of opportunities, and we are drowning slowly in despair, forgetting about ourselves and especially about our health.
Here are a few things I have discovered while going through everything I’ve mentioned above:
Taking care of our health is vital!
When life doesn’t seem to cooperate with us the way we would like it to, it’s easy to give up on fighting. The feeling of despair takes over and we feel completely paralyzed — sometimes physically. However, we have to remind ourselves that our physical and psychical health always come first.
What should you do for your health?
- Make sure you are trying to sleep enough and at proper hours — however, don’t fall on the other side, where you sleep all day long and run away from reality by sleeping.
- Have some activities outside and get a good dose of fresh air every day. When we feel overwhelmed by life, it’s very common to avoid going out and spend way too much time away from natural light and fresh air. It might not seem comfortable in the beginning, but it will help when it comes to your mood.
- Make sure you don’t give up on exercising. I know, even getting up from the bed can be hard some days. But don’t push yourself. Have a longer walk, do some easy yoga → here’s a link with yoga for a change ;), do some basic stretching — all these will help move your body and start feeling more active and alive.
Focus on your diet!
I am very familiar with the feeling of the stomach pain caused by stress when the alarm is ringing in the morning. However, I also know that you have to eat something before drinking that morning coffee.
- Try eating a few nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, or cashew. These will fill up your stomach for a while until you calm down and are ready to have a proper breakfast.
- Have an easy and fresh smoothie with your favorite fruits and some oats. This combination is easy to accept in such situations and it gives you the energy needed to go over the stress and destress your system.
Hobbies
The things we love define us and in a critical situation, they remind us who we are, what we enjoy and why life is worth living. Focusing on hobbies is great when we are ok, but it’s even greater when we don’t.
- Find activities you love to do and don’t give up on them even if you feel like it’s too much for you.
- For example, if I’m so down that I can’t really go to tango or go horseback riding, I prefer to go once per week instead of three times rather than giving up.
City breaks
There are countless benefits of a city break. When you are depressed or too stressed, changing your environment might seem like a bad idea. But once you step outside your city — the place which is now loaded with stress, worries, and negative thoughts — you start getting a different perspective.
- Visiting new places and meeting new people is very challenging for your mind. It inspires you in so many ways, thus you will start seeing solutions for your problems even when you are not looking for them.
- Changing the context is very healthy when you are loaded with stress and thoughts, making you whole system disconnect a bit and relax. By doing so, you will have a fresh approach to the situation and you might even see the good side of the change.
- Just being around new people in a foreign city will motivate your brain to work harder, to discover more and to find solutions. It will activate different sides of yourself, which will maximize your chances to get out of the tough situation you are in and do better.
Communication
Talking about your problems might seem stupid, but just trying to explain to different people your situation will make you think it through and you might even realize that sometimes you are exaggerating. I’m not saying that you should tell everyone about your challenges, but it’s important to have a few people you trust when you are dealing with changes.
- People who care about you can give you a different perspective. I know they are saying it’s not so bad, even though you feel like you are drowning in negativity, but they might be right. Good words and positive energy are crucial in such situations.
- If you don’t feel like talking to someone, write down your problems and try to find solutions for them. Our subconscious is programmed to constantly remind us how bad the situation is and most of the time it’s very hard to organize all these thoughts. By writing them down, you are processing those thoughts and you will end up realizing that you have no real reason to despair.
Changes are part of the journey through life and without them, our existence would be plain and boring. Even though it’s not easy to deal with them, I think it’s very important to learn how to live with the changes and to turn them in our advantage. I am not an expert in dealing with changes, but this is my experience and if you find this helpful, my article found its purpose.
