We all look for the good times in life. Life is short, but at times, feels long. Most of us yearn for good times, but ask yourself, how much do you really enjoy and savour those good times? Are you able to experience true bliss and harmony, or do you end up thinking about the bad times that may come?
As a counsellor, my primary job is to support people in navigating difficult times. Think of ‘hard times’ as a resistance band, and ‘yourself’ as the person walking into the resistance band. The distance you make is determined by how strong your muscles are. The stronger your muscles, the further distance you can walk forward. But how do you strengthen your muscles? Well…this comes from the hard times you experience, if you experience it consciously.
By being conscious during hard times, you will be in a better place to assess what is happening and what impact it is having on you – this is a great challenge, but is achievable overtime with exposure and self-care.
Something happens when you experience hard times for long enough – it forces you to create a meaning and purpose for yourself. Hard times force you to see a pathway forward, or to adapt and figure out how to navigate through it, thereby making you more resourceful and resilient.
Think about it – if you only ever experienced happy times, then what would happen if you were thrusted into a world of stress? Whereas if you have continually experienced hard times, you will have had more opportunity to develop strategies and solutions to seek your way through.
There are countless techniques and measures that you can put in place to help you navigate through hard times, and this is what is amazing about human beings – our resourcefulness. The fact that we can find virtue in life’s hardest moments just shows how resilient we really are.
If you are unable to seek the value your resource you need in the difficult times you are going through, then the only alternative is for that situation to change – this is something outside of your control. So ask yourself, what is required of me in this situation, for me to get the most from it?
My message to you is to focus on opportunities to grow, learn and develop, so that you will be able to make progress when life throws obstacles in your way. Counselling is a powerful way to deal with difficult times, as you will be guided to finding the pathways that will enable you to develop a stronger version of yourself.
Your future self will thank you.