What You’re Really Feeling – Your Guide To Managing Life's Surprises
Life is full of surprises, in fact almost every day we will encounter some sort of surprise or an unexpected event. Most of them will turn out to be insignificant and impact our daily routines very little. However, sometimes life’s surprises can alter our lives forever, causing change and sometimes great difficulties.
Whilst we can’t always control what happens in our lives, we can control how we deal it. Bach™ Original Flower Remedies has a few tips for you, so that when life’s surprise come your way you are better equipped to face them.
Acknowledgement and Realisation
A key step towards managing life’s surprises, is through acknowledging and realising the fact that surprises and unexpected events are part of life and are unavoidable. Expect the unexpected and you will find it easier to manage what life throws at you. Perhaps a recent health scare has meant you need to take a closer look at healthy eating? Or a stressful period at work has left you revaluating your emotional wellbeing?
Whatever the scenario, remember that:
- Acceptance and acknowledgement are not necessarily about being happy with the situation, rather that you actively recognise this is how things are.
- When you refuse to acknowledge the truth all you are doing is wasting precious time on resistance, lengthening out your reaction time rather than taking a moment to fully comprehend the situation you now find yourself.
- Without acknowledging the situation, you will really struggle to move forward with your life
Gratitude
When things don’t go your way and managing everyday life feels like it’s getting harder, it can be easy to be consumed by your own negative thoughts. Remembering all you have to be grateful for is such a simple, yet effective tool to use in times of worry. Keeping a gratitude journal can help clear space in your mind when it’s full of mixed emotions. The simple practise of reflecting on what you’re grateful for can help guide you towards a happier and more content life. You’ll gain a better understanding of yourself in the process, and a fresh perspective to a situation that might have seemed a disaster before.
Every night, jot down a few bullet points under the following headlines:
- Things to be grateful for today – Look at the events of the day and list out all the things you can be grateful for.
- Things to be thankful for – Long term things in life that you can say ‘I am thankful for’.
Anticipation
Anticipation is one of the primary emotions in the emotional wheel, and it can both be a good and a bad thing. Getting to grips with your different emotional states can help you understand what effect anticipation is having on your mind and body. When looking at the emotional wheel, you can see how anticipation sits in between joy and anger and can extend either into interest or vigilance. This in turn can lead to feeling more optimistic about situations or can lead to aggression if it veers towards annoyance and frustration. The next time you’re feeling anticipation about an unexpected event or change, take a moment to think about where you are in the wheel. Is this anticipation excitement, or is it worry? Perhaps it’s about facing adversity? Or about making a big change in your career? Having a deeper understanding of your basic emotions will help guide you into a more comfortable transition.
Self-care
When overwhelmed with life’s surprises one of the best things you can do for yourself is to engage in some self-care. This can be anything that benefits your mental and emotional health. The way to make self-care a regular part of your life is to carve out a small window of me-time to do the things you love. Perhaps this is through practicing meditation, using specific breathing techniques to calm yourself? Even just 10 minutes of meditation every day can make a great change in your life, making you feel, calm, relaxed, and ready for a healthy sleep unperturbed by the stressful situations in your life. Perhaps spending an hour or so zoning out and cooking your favourite meal? Or perhaps, you just need to get outdoors and have some time away from the house? Whatever it is, self-care can be pivotal in aiding your understanding of your emotions in times of change.
Open up
When life gets in the way, it’s easy for us to become so consumed by what’s going on that we end up neglecting relationships that mean a lot to us. We often underestimate the sheer power of communication, and how through sharing our troubles with others we can receive great comfort and support. Talking through unexpected life scenarios with someone you trust may help you to:
- sort through the problem
- see the situation more clearly
- look at the problem in different light
- release built-up stress – this can help you to gain a new understanding into the situation that is causing the problem
- find out that you are not alone – you may find that many other people share your feelings
- identify options or solutions you hadn't thought of before.