There is no doubt that life is just a series of surprises, both good and bad, that we all need to learn to cope with and sometimes overcome. These surprises are made up of both happy and unhappy experiences that shape our view of the world for better or worse. Learning to overcome life’s little surprises by working on your mindset will ensure that whatever the situation, the overall impact becomes positive.
Accept Hardships as a Challenge
If you have the right mindset that life will be challenging and that’s okay, surprises that aren’t so fabulous won’t cause as much damage. When you can look at a hardship from all sides while learning and growing, you’ll end up reducing the stress you feel – even if the surprise is not a good one.
Understand That Good Surprises Cause Stress Too
Surprises that need to be overcome aren’t always “bad.” Some people really don’t like to be surprised for any reason, including a birthday. If you’re someone that needs to overcome the experience of your 50th birthday surprise party thrown by family and friends who know you don’t like surprises, you’re not alone.
Practice Realistic Positivity
Positivity is a good skill to learn. However, you don’t need to be positive in a fake way. Instead, you can just choose not to be negative. Changing a negative thought to a neutral one can be just as effective as trying to be overly fake positive.
Maintain Your Health Mentally and Physically
Everyone can be equipped to deal with all aspects of life, difficult and exhilarating, because if your body is healthy and your mind is healthy, it’s easier to focus on the right thing at the time. For example, if your kids throw you that party and you were feeling sick because you’re overweight and tired, or you have untreated anxiety, it’s going to be harder to get through it positively than if you are already focusing on your health.
Get Back to Nature to Reset Your Mind
All human beings need to be attached to nature. We need sunshine to keep our rhythms in check, we need the soil for minerals, and we need the dirt under our bare feet to ground us. Anytime you’re dealing with something stressful, even a surprise, try going for a walk outside and watch the stress fade away. If you cannot go outside due to inclement weather, turn on nature films on YouTube. Believe it or not, it will help you.
Build Positive Habits
The more positive habits you can build in your life, the more they’ll stand up during any type of crisis. Eating right, staying hydrated, and getting exercise are all important, no matter what is going on. But it’s harder to do them when you are stressed out. It’s easier to do them when they’ve become a habit because, as you know with habits, you don’t need to rely on willpower.
Learn to Meditate
Scientifically proven to lower blood pressure and calm people down even if they have a lot of anxiety, meditation is important to learn and can take you through your entire life. Mediation is about breathing and clearing your mind so that you can stop ruminating and make better choices.
Teach People How to Treat You
When it comes to other people foisting unwanted surprises on you (good or bad), it’s important to acknowledge your role in this. Dr. Phil, one time, told Oprah back when he was on her show that we “teach people how to treat us.” This is one of the only true things he’s ever said. If you want people to treat you a certain way, start speaking up now – before something happens.
Remember that a surprise can be either good or bad. And either good or bad surprises can generate both happy and unhappy feelings and emotions that you will need to deal with. Having said that, all surprises help you learn something about yourself and the world in which you live. Because of that, no matter whether the initial situation is bad or good, the ultimate impact will become positive due to what you learn and how you grow.
