8 Ways To Get Back Up Again When Life Knocks You Down

HOW TO GET BACK UP WHEN LIFE KNOCKS YOU DOWN.
First of all, please stop tormenting and torturing yourself for feeling or having felt the way that you do. We all fall down at times, it’s absolutely impossible not to and such a big part of life. It’s in those moments that we grow thicker skin, we learn more about our (true) self, and we build tools and mechanisms that’ll help us excel in this world.

But, in the moment, when you feel like you’re buried beneath dark feelings of anxiety, sadness and hurt, I know the last thing we’re thinking of is that this, one day, will help us..

So, what can we do to pick ourselves up when life knocks us down? Here’s a few suggestions to help you get your spring back in your step and look at the world a little less frantic and much more optimistically.

#1  – Change How You Speak To Yourself:

As I mentioned at the very beginning of this article, please stop tormenting yourself for having fallen down or for feeling depressed, it’s natural and I promise you that many other people have those exact sae days as you. There’s nothing wrong with you for feeling the way you do.

However, we do have to take an active approach in changing how we speak to ourselves on the inside.
Just like choosing where we place our focus, the language we use is also something we have full control over if we take a moment to connect with this power.

In reality, we are nothing but the stories that we tell ourselves on a regular basis – in our heads.

Don’t think that your self-worth is connected to the results that play out in your life – even when you ‘fail’ you are still just as worthy as you are when you ‘succeed’.

This is something available for us all if we take this on-board; We all have that choice.

#2 – Take Deep Breaths:

Focusing on your breathing may not sound like much in theory, but it truly can make a world of difference if you’re feeling down. When we’re depressed, we also tend to be anxious – our bodies have taken on the ‘Fight or Flight’ position, which means we’re tensed up and our brains have ‘shut down’.

Spend a few minutes focusing on nothing except your breath. Take long, slow breaths and get rid of all negative thoughts on each exhale. You can even count to 6 whilst breathing in, and count to 6 as you slowly exhale. Continue until you feel your body giving in and releasing tension.

#3 – Read Something That Inspires You:

You know all those Pinterest boards and Instagram accounts that posts inspirational quotes all the time? Well, now is the time for you to find those and use them to your advantage. You could even find a Ted-talk or a Youtube-Clip with an inspirational role-model you admire.

Words truly do have the power to heal and pick you back up when you’re down, so taking some time out to read about other people’s struggles and wins, can help you realise that anything is possible.

#4 – Embrace Your Limitations:

We are all messy, imperfect people. Some of us have health issues to contend with or other difficult circumstances in our life that are part of our honest reality at the moment. We have personality quirks, we carry baggage from our pasts, we are all works in progress. Making peace with, or embracing our limitations, does not mean complacency or disengaging. But it might mean surrendering to what is in the moment. Some of our limitations might be things we work at overcoming while others are simply out of our control. Making peace with this can go a long way in helping us live with peace and joy even in the middle of the storm.

#5 – Spend Time With People Who Will Be A Listening Ear:

Telling the truth to your best friend, getting one-on-one counselling with a psychologist or therapist, or even joining an online community that are dealing with some of the same troubles you are, can be a huge relief and it can also help you to understand your problems better when the words are spoken out loud and circulated back to you in voice, rather than keeping it bottled up in your head and on the inside.

If the first and second tries don’t feel right – try again. We need community. We need to tell the truth about how we are feeling and be heard. There’s no shame in that. Speaking up heals. Speaking up helps you move forward.

#6 – Do What Truly Makes Your Heart Sing:

It doesn’t matter whether it’s painting, singing in front of the mirror, going for a walk in nature, sipping tea all day long or binge-watching netflix. Whatever makes you happy do that, and do it often!

Whatever you can think of that will get you out of bed, bring warmth to your heart and put a smile on your face, do it! Sometimes we have to force ourselves a little, especially if we’re depressed, but that little nudge can make a world of a difference in starting to create more serotonin in our brains and you’ll instantly break the evil circle of sadness and hopelessness.

#7 – Take The Time To Learn From This Pain:

If you’re being really deeply (& brutally) honest with yourself, and take the time to look inwards; will this moment kill you? Will this moment pass? Take away your feelings, take away your emotions. Can you ride through this wave even though the emotions are overwhelming? Will those emotions kill you?

The short answer is NO. Emotions and feelings cannot kill you. They can make your life a living hell but they do not have the power to kill you. In fact; we have the complete power over our thoughts. I know that’s easier said than done, but in reality, it’s the honest truth.

To help you overcome this time, try to sit down with a journal and note down what’s happened since you’re finding yourself in this situation? What feelings are popping up? Pain is the best teacher out there. And it’s up to us whether we take it or not. We can use it to empower ourselves, and we can use it to grow thicker skin and coping-mechanisms we can use the next time we are feeling down.

#8 – What Doesn’t Kill You Only Makes You Stronger:

Remember this saying. Remember that some of the kindest and most successful people out there was knocked down over and over and over again, but somehow they found the courage and persistence to keep rising, even when they felt it was pointless. They kept coming back to those things that make it all worth it.

Find that thing. Find that feeling. Believe in yourself. Love yourself. This too shall pass.

Lots of love and light, Caroline xx