It makes me sad to see you suffer from circumstances outside of your control. I recently spent two hours on FaceTime listening to and encouraging someone I care about deeply.

What makes such situations even more challenging is, when you face circumstances because of decisions you’ve made.

Feeling stuck is normal. And it’s easy to blame others.

[shareable cite=”Abe Stone”]Accepting what is, clears your mind, enabling you to see what can be. #bepresent #sostartover[/shareable]

I have three suggestions to get you past those low moments:

  1. Breathe deeply. The first one is take a breath. Take a deep, deep breath, then take in your surroundings and recognize everything that’s happening and just BE WITH IT for a while. Accepting what is, clears your mind, enabling you to see what can be.
  2. Ask yourself, “If anything was possible, what would I do?” Let all those POSSIBILITIES FLOW out, jot them down without judgement. No second guessing allowed. I mean it! When you’ve exhausted all possibilities choose one.
  3. Take action. Take one simple, clear, positive step in the direction of your choice. Once in motion you will be able to see the next step or you’ll see new possibilities in new directions to move in. That is the POWER OF MOMENTUM.

The challenge here is getting past the initial, emotional, reactionary frame of mind, which is either going to cause you to run away or cause you to hunker down and protect yourself. You don’t want to react, you want to RESPOND.

[shareable cite=”Abe Stone”]You don’t want to react, you want to RESPOND. #lifehack #sostartover[/shareable]

BONUS THOUGHT: There is one last caveat. Taking responsibility, for those parts of your current situation which you are responsible for, is empowering.

This is not blaming yourself or anyone for that matter. It is LETTING GO OF THE VICTIM MENTALITY. Because, if you are responsible for something in your life, you can CHANGE IT.

[reminder]What is another question you could ask yourself when facing a hopeless situation?[/reminder]