How to Find Your Balance When the World Is Upside Down

Waking up to the news of a topsy-turvy uncertain world is enough to shake the balance of anyone. As a therapist equally affected by news and things that occur in the world of which we have no control, I think often about the things that separate those who cope well with those who don’t fare so well.

Here are some tips to help cope:

1. Remember that things never stay the same and things were okay once and will be OK again.
2. Connect with others of like thinking. It helps to validate that you’re not alone in what you’re feeling.
3. Stay with the pain. Walk through what seems impossible to deal with. When you walk through pain we realize that we are resilient to pain even if it was really hard.
4. Catch yourself going into catastrophic thinking. Remind yourself of where and who you are and not where you might be. The worst- case scenario mostly never happens.
5. Hard times trigger past experience. Remind yourself that what’s happening is now and not then.
6. Remember that being okay is about your internal state. It is the lens through which we see and experience the world which informs our perceptions. Work on your own peaceful state which leads to
7. Remind yourself of the blessings and good things in your life even if it’s hard to find good things at the moment
8. Seek peace in the spiritual, whether prayer, meditation, or the the beauty of nature or the steadfastness of rising and setting suns.

You have survived much already in your life and will continue to survive many other things in your life. It’s about the internal you.