How To Stay Positive in Difficult Times

If you want to learn how to stay positive, even when the pieces of the jigsaw of life don’t seem to fit, this post is for you.

Find out some great ways to stay positive in difficult times. Our top tips will help you to stay positive after sad news or a challenging period. From mental resilience to mindfulness, learn more here.

Reasons why we might feel down right now

2020 has been a difficult year for most people – there are more stressors about physical health, many people are suffering financial difficulty, and you may have found lockdown difficult to deal with. With so much going on in the world, and so many negative news stories, it’s sometimes easy to forget that there are plenty of day to day difficulties that we faced even before COVID, wildfires, and political disruptions. All of these have a chance of impacting your mental health and resilience, which is why it’s important to check in with your feelings and make sure that you’re taking the time to build yourself up.

First, tell yourself it is okay to feel down

The first thing to do when you feel down is to acknowledge that not feeling okay is, in fact, completely okay. All of our feelings are temporary states that cannot be kept forever. We cannot be happy every minute of every day and that means sometimes we are going to feel unmotivated or sad.

The first step in staying positive when things don’t feel right is to acknowledge that it is perfectly acceptable to feel down every now and then. It’s a normal part of the emotional spectrum and, in fact, it’s unhealthy to try to feel happy all the time. It’s especially natural if you haven’t seen your loved ones for a while and your usual routines and support systems are disrupted.

Building emotional resilience can help

Emotional intelligence is often defined as reacting well and strategically to bad experiences and stressful situations. When these instances occur, such as the death of a family member or not getting your dream job, our emotions may go into meltdown. But it’s not just there for extreme circumstances – good resilience helps you deal with approaching deadlines at work and just those days where nothing seems to go right.

How to develop emotional resilience

So, the obvious question is how can you build emotional resilience? Here are some answers to a complex question: 

• Understand the 5 components of emotional resilience

• Be aware of your feelings and your responses to different circumstances

• Practice thinking and talking before acting

• Gain an understanding of your negative responses which may undermine your positivity and resilience over time

• Create a decision-making framework that helps you cope in difficult circumstances

• Focus on solutions to problems and improve your mental flexibility

• Practice good self-care to avoid feeling overwhelmed

• Allow yourself to fail without treating it like a defining moment or characteristic

Other ways to stay positive

• Stay social (but make sure you have some you time)-If that’s physically difficult, try to have catch ups over the phone or video calls.

• Practice mindfulness - Mindfulness is a way of becoming more aware of yourself and your surroundings.

• Exercise more - Exercise is not just to lose weight or build strength. It is a way to make us feel good about ourselves, and it’s proven by science.

• Explore nature - spending time in nature has been proven by researchers to help with anxiety and depression.

• Improve your nutrition - By eating well, we are less prone to mood swings and behavioural imbalances. The connection between foods and mental health is starting to become a hot topic.

• Listen to music - lots of evidence connects between upbeat music and a new positive energy, there is even evidence to suggest sad songs can make us happier too.

• Accept and ask for help – and help others!