Life can be stressful. Life can knock you to your knees. Life can chew you up and spit you out. On the other hand, life can be fun. Life can be pleasant. Life can be full of possibilities. Life can be beautiful. I'm here to give you some mental coping skills that can facilitate a happier life and bring you closer to peace. These two examples will be spiritual in nature.
First, I'll share what AA calls "taking the next rightly indicated step." What exactly does this term mean? Basically, it means giving up control. When you worry about the future, you take away the present moment. Have you noticed that many plans that you wish to execute properly are destroyed by external factors, lack of initiative, giving up before completion or maybe even lack of motivation towards the goal you had in mind? The truth is that most of our decisions are based on an "in the moment" impulse. Let me give you an understanding. Have you noticed that no matter how much you want your ideals and think you are in control, you react to situations as they arise rather than sticking to what you have planned with foresight? Think about it. You will come to a conclusion whether it is true or not. I say this to relieve you of your worries. Now, going back to "taking the next rightly indicated step", it's best to focus on the present moment and do what needs to be done in that moment. This will relieve you of your vain plans and much, if not all, of your worries about the future. This takes practice, but the lasting rewards will free your mind from unnecessary energy consumption and fuel you for what is needed while you leave the results to God.
Second, focus on the future rather than the past. Sometimes we are stuck in the past and we don't even know it. Let me give you an example. As a former meth addict, I expected to go to rehab and my problem would go away. It's just not that straightforward. As the number of rehab visits increased, I began to lose faith in my ability to stay sober. My time in rehab and sobriety got shorter and shorter to the point where I could only stay in rehab for a week or less before leaving to get high. Now that I have some time, I realize that my focus was on my failed attempts in the past and sabotaged my peace while causing this pattern to repeat itself for years due to fear and lack of perspective to overcome this pattern. Our behavior results from the thoughts and perspective in our mind. The day I started focusing on the freedom to be me in the future instead of what I was getting rid of was the day I broke free from that pattern, became happier and felt a progressive sense of freedom day by day. The lesson to be learned from this example is that focusing on the past causes you to repeat the same toxic patterns you are trying to break free of because you are no longer giving it energy. When you shift your focus to the future, you look at the pattern in a new light and allow your mind the freedom to see the possibilities and give you the perspective to take action towards what you want.
So there you have it. Two mental coping skills to improve the quality of your life. I appreciate feedback via comments and if you liked the content enough, a follow would be nice too. I write for others to be blessed with a better life. The comments give me the joy of helping others or improving my impact. Following allows me to get closer to getting paid for this work so I can post more content.
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