Life can get a little crazy sometimes. Things can be going smoothly for years on end, and it seems like you're making progress – but then you get hit with some kind of tragedy that just knocks the wind right out of you.
Tired of the Same Old Life
Then you get hit again – and again. Sometimes it even seems like the whole universe is conspiring against you, and if you're sinking into depression you might even give into that way of thinking. But that's not what's really going on. Life is filled with ups and downs. Sometimes difficult times are evenly spaced out, but sometimes they hit one after the other in a relentless wave that just overwhelms you.
That's not an angry universe that hates you. That's just what randomness looks like.
But when life seems to be burying you for months and years at a time, it gets old. That's hard to deal with. You just feel so tired of trying, and it's natural to want to give up. Maybe you already gave up, and now you're here.
Hitting Rock Bottom
Sometimes you need to go down before you can go up. Perhaps you've hit bottom recently and feel like you've lost all sense of hope. But that's just a feeling. There's always hope. Sometimes, when you bottom out, something else happens – something unexpected. There's a shift that takes place in your mind and allows you to have hope again. Healing begins to take place when you least expect it. Hitting the bottom with full force can set you up for a rebound, so maybe this is your time to reverse this downward spiral and start climbing again.
For example, those struggling with substance abuse who hit their rock bottom often find themselves seeking the help they formerly shunned. Treatment centers such as Luminance drug rehab in Orange County are familiar with this pattern and have refined their system and techniques to account for it, thereby increasing the odds of helping patients succeed.
Hit the Reset Button
There's always hope. You always have choices. Your choices have led you to where you're at right now. Sure, there were other things going on that were outside your control, but you can always choose how to respond to those curveballs that life throws at you.
How have you reacted in the past? Do you have a tendency to look for excuses, to point fingers at others – or even worse – to blame yourself for every bad thing ever and beat yourself up mentally and emotionally?
How are you reacting right now? Are you choosing to be hopeful? If not, why not? You can choose to believe in yourself, if you want to, and you know you want to believe in yourself. Self-help begins with you, from the inside. You have to help yourself before you can expect support from anyone else.
It's time to hit the reset button.
So what if you feel like a failure? Everybody fails. That's part of life. It means you're trying. The only people who ever succeed are the ones who keep trying. So hit the reset button on your life and allow yourself to breathe again. Allow yourself to have a fresh start.
Maybe now is the time to rethink some things, to end some relationships, to give a little more attention to others or start up some new ones. Or maybe now is the time to quit that job that's been sucking the life out of you for years and go find something better.
That's one of the secrets that nobody seems to tell you – you always have a choice. You don't have to stay in that dead-end job or that dead-end relationship or that dead-end town. Nobody's forcing you to stay, but nobody's coming to your rescue either. If you want things to change, then you need to make some different life choices than the ones you've been making to date.
Life is All About Choices
It's true, right? Whether your life is changing or is staying exactly the same, it's your choice. You chose this life. You chose to accept it as-is. You chose to remain in this comfort zone, even though it's not very comfortable.
And you can choose to move on. You can choose to move to that new city, to get the girl, to stand up to your parents or to start your dream business. Choosing it doesn't mean that you'll succeed instantly, though. It might take you years of consistent, hard work to achieve a meaningful goal, but that time is going to pass anyway, so why not live life on your own terms and pursue the things that you want?
Robert Alleson