Make The Best of It

The other day, I was posed a question that got me thinking. I was asked, if I could give any advice to people going through hard times, what would it be. Here are some recommendations.

1) Take Care of Yourself - You know yourself better than anyone else knows you: How you feel. What you want. What you can do. You have to act on those. Many people will give you advice, with the best of intentions, but only you have the ability to decide for yourself. You may lead a busy life or have a desire to help everyone in your path, but you are not able to do anything if you don't put yourself first. Easier said than done, I know, but it is vitally important.

2) Help Others - Kind of ironic this comes next, right? However, think about it. Losing yourself in helping and serving others helps you to forget about your problems and see that everyone has their unique struggles and trials. Helping others overcome those trials, especially if you can use your own experience, is so rewarding.

3) Look For The Positive - This is no easy in the beginning. Here is an example. When I was 14, I broke my arm in a gymnastics class. At that time it was awful and I did not realize the positive. Had I not put my arm down and fallen on it, then I would have landed on my neck. Better an arm than a neck. Here's a challenge. Look at one of your trials and find one positive from it, whether it be that it gives you more time to rest or catch up on a good book, or that it has given you opportunities you would have never had, or that it could have worse.

4) Be Happy - One of my favorite sayings is "Find Joy in the Journey". We can decide whether we will be happy or sad or mad. It's not always easy to remain the way we choose, but it is so worth it. Whatever you are going through will be so much easier if you practice happiness. Find a reason to smile and share that with others, so that they can see and share in your happiness. It is so worth it.

This is the advice I would give to make the best of whatever you've been given. What would your advice be to someone going through a difficult time?