How do you encourage yourself?

[petra]

When things get hard in your life, how do you coax yourself through the difficult bits?

Comments

[petra]

I try to stay firm but gentle with myself, as I would with anyone else dealing with something hard. Sometimes it's hard to be as gentle as I should be; sometimes it's hard to be as firm as I should be. I don't often offer myself rewards for good behavior other than the satisfaction of a job well done.

[desireearmfeldt]

Hm I tend to tune out by doing things like reading fiction.

Playing ukulele/singing raises the spirits if I can get over the inertia to do it.

Doing interactive things often takes me out of myself.

[petra]

Reading fiction seems like a good way to get the brain to ease off a little bit.

I find it's been hard to sing recently, mostly because I do a lot of my singing with a chorus lately and I miss it.

[sulien]

Generally, I keep putting one foot in front of the other to slog through and escape to the beach or the forest whenever possible. If I can't escape to the beach or the forest, I look at pictures or videos of them and listen to nature sounds and do my best to drop into a self-guided meditation to put myself there and escape to them that way. And of course there's always reading, fic or published fiction, which I can drop into to the extent that the world around me dissolves completely (all of the above have saved my sanity more times than I care to remember).

Pardon the edit.

[petra]

Escaping either literally or mentally sounds like a good plan. I hope you get the time outside that feeds your soul.

[mesotablar]

I guess I am fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to say to myself 'this isn't bad, you have gone through worse' and really know that to be true.

Whenever I can I try to physically do kindnesses. I find that actually physically sorting through things and donating those I don't need is much more encouraging and rewarding than talking or writing. I know there are plenty of people out there where this is the worst times of their lives, not to mention that Australia is still in a drought and all the animal hospitals are still treating injuries and burns from the bushfires. However I know this is not a limitless activity. Really there are only so many things you can find to donate. But knowing I have done it, I have shared what I can gives me a bright little point to hold onto.

[petra]

You are still in the world reassuring yourself that you've seen worse, so I think that counts as fortune, on the balance.

Your acts of kindness seem excellent from my vantage point. I'm glad you have enough to share in ways that make your life feel more meaningful. That's great!