Tools, Resources, And Support to Help Get You Through Tough Times
If you’re experiencing tough times, today’s blog post is meant simply to provide you with a boost of uplifting emotional support and hearty mental inspiration.
For many of us, there are times in life that can simply feel really hard and where it’s almost impossible to imagine that things will ever get better again. That’s okay.
It’s okay if you’re going through a tough time. This doesn’t make you any less loveable, worthy, or capable. This just means you’re human.
If you or someone you love is going through one of these tough times right now, here is a collection of resources to help you get through this time.
Resources To Help You Feel More Connected.
#1. You’re Not Alone In The Struggles Of Your Relationship: Esther Perel’s New Audible Series
In her new Audible series, Where Should We Begin?, Esther Perel invites real-live couples into a session with her to work through some of their most pressing issues, including rebuilding trust and intimacy after an affair, feeling connected through raising children, feeling “put off” by the personality of their mate, etc.
#2. You’re Not Alone in Speaking Your Truth: Brené Brown’s Newest Book, Braving the Wilderness
In Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and The Courage to Stand Alone, Brené digs deep to unearth the social science of how we feel connected or disconnected to one another and how we can shift our behavior through evidence-based steps to feel more connected to one another and, arguably more importantly, to ourselves.
#3. You’re Not Alone As A Woman: Women & Spirituality, The Goddess Trilogy.
A series of three, short, sociopolitical documentary movies produced in 1989 by Canadian filmmaker Donna Reed, The Goddess Trilogy traces and explores women’s spirituality and social and political acceptance and rejection across 35,000 years of history with themes that may feel remarkably relevant especially today.
10 Quotes to See You Through Hard Times
1. “She could never go back and make some of the details pretty. All she could do was move forward and make the whole beautiful.” ― Terri St. Cloud
2. “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.” ― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
3. “You are not supposed to be happy all the time. Life hurts and it’s hard. Not because you’re doing it wrong, but because it hurts for everybody. Don’t avoid the pain. You need it. It’s meant for you. Be still with it, let it come, let it go, let it leave you with the fuel you’ll burn to get your work done on this earth.” ― Glennon Doyle Melton
4. “If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.” ― Fred Rogers
5. “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” ― Haruki Murakami
6. “Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.” ― Elizabeth Edwards
7. “Clutter and mess show us that life is being lived…Tidiness makes me think of held breath, of suspended animation… Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist’s true friend. What people somehow forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here.” ― Anne Lamott
8. “This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert
9. “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” ― Dumbledore
10. “It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.” ― Joseph Campbell
15 Self-Care Suggestions
1. Have a good, long, body-shaking cry.
2. Call a trusted friend or family member and talk it out.
3. Create a plan if you’re feeling overwhelmed. List out what you need to do next to tackle and address whatever you’re facing. Chunk it down into manageable and understandable pieces.
4. Go wander around outside in your neighborhood and take a look at all the lovely houses and the way people decorate their gardens. Delight in the diversity of design.
5. Allow yourself to fantasize about what you’re hoping or longing for. There are clues and energy in your reveries and daydreams that are worth paying attention to.
6. Look for and Google up examples of people who have gone through and made it through what you’re currently facing. Seek out models of inspiration.
7. Establish a routine and stick to it. Routines can bring so much comfort and grounding in times of life that feel chaotic or out of control.
8. Work with your doctor, naturopath, or nutritionist to develop a physical exercise plan and food plan that will be supportive to whatever you’re facing right now.
9. Ask for some love and tenderness from your friends on social media. Let them comment on your post and remind you that you’re loved.
10. Go outside and be in the sunshine.
11. Write out a list of 25 Reasons Why You’ll Be Okay.
12. Take five minutes to meditate.
13. Take a tech break. Delete or deactivate social media if it feels too triggering right now.
14. Create and listen to a playlist of songs that remind you of happier times.
15. ASK FOR HELP. From whoever you need it – your boss, your doctor, your partner, your therapist, your mom. Let people know you need some help.
If you’re experiencing tough times, today’s blog post is meant simply to provide you with a boost of uplifting emotional support and hearty mental inspiration.
Bookmark this one for a tough day and share it widely with those who may need this support, too.
Because, after all, who among us doesn’t go through hard times and require a little extra support, an extra spark for our soul?
And if you find yourself struggling and needing extra support, please feel free to reach out to us to set up a complimentary consult call so we can match you with the best therapist for your situation.
