Life is full of contrasts. Happiness/sadness, new birth/death, January 2020/COVID-19, light/darkness. While contrasts make life interesting, it certainly sucks to be on the “dark” side of it.
Let’s quickly cover 3 tips insights on how to handle the dark side:
1. Don’t believe how long you feel it will last. We tend to exaggerate how long dark times last. We feel they’ll last forever. When we feel sad, it’s difficult to see how the bad times will pass, or how we ll ever overcome our current feelings. Don’t believe your feelings. It’ll pass…and much sooner than you feel
2. Look at your dark side through someone else’s lenses. This is where trusted friends come into play. When you’re going through the dark side, it’s always helpful to have people who will remind you that life is still worth living. These comrades will help you see the “glimmer of hope” when you’re not able to
3. Don’t allow yourself to close in. Don’t host a pity party for too long. Remember that, even though you don’t feel like it, you can choose to “act” your way into the feeling better. Some might say acting the way you’d want to feel is fake. If that’s what it’d take for you to try it, then yeah. Be fake for bit! Remember that the pathway between feelings and action is not a one way street. The same way you tend to act the way you feel, you can feel the way you act. It might feel uncomfortable and unnatural when you start, but it really does work. Play the kind of music you’d play if you didn’t feel the way you did. Move your body! Dance. Exercise. But don’t permit yourself to close in.
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Ugo is an energetic and dynamic youth leader, and also the president of the nonprofit, NEU Gen Leaders. He is the author of 2 books – Secrets of Academic Excellence and The NEU Era. He can be reached at [email protected].