Sink or Swim

If you were 8 years old and on your first ever swimming lesson you got threw into the deep end with no floats or arm bands, what would happen? YOU WOULD DROWN.

How can you be expected to swim for the first time with no support? How can you be expected to deal with your emotions if you don’t know how to? When you are hit with the stress of work, loss of a loved one or any life experience which hits you hard, how do you cope so you don’t sink?

There are lots of people that don’t know about coping strategies and how they can change your state from down to UP. When you are dealing with an issue, an easy thing to help you deal with your emotions would be alcohol or drugs. Although these may make you feel better these are poor coping mechanisms which have adverse effects and are more negative than positive.

Find a positive way to cope, why not start now?

• Use our Minds Matter stress busters to tackle your thoughts:

• Take off your Mask, you don’t have to pretend to be ok or be something you’re not.

• Follow your intuition, write out whatever you are feeling or thinking about without worrying about rationalisation or your judgemental inner voice.

• Let go of the negative, recognise when you’re feeling negative & decide to stop it there.
Take a moment, prioritise time for yourself.

• Stay mindful of your eating and drinking.

• Practise gratitude, look around you at what you already have instead of focusing on what you don’t.

• Detach yourself, remember don’t believe everything you think.

• Experience new things, put yourself in a situation and try something different, you might meet a new best friend.

• Do your best, and don’t give up.

• Focus on the positive, and you will feel positive. Energy follows focus.

• Take small steps, keep moving forward. Small steps are better than none.

• Embrace self-discipline, challenge yourself to overcome obstacles.

• Practise patience. Things don’t happen overnight, but it’s amazing what difference a week can make.

• Exercise your love, blow off some steam in a Gym.

• Spend time with others, connect with the people that make you feel alive.

DON’T GIVE UP

You might find you have tried lots of different things and nothing has seemed to work. Finding your way to cope might just take a little longer.
Everybody is unique, what works for someone else might not for you.

Just don’t Give up!