DO THIS IN HARD TIMES ... AND IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK

"Look on the bright-side"

"Find the silver lining"

"Just stay positive"

"There's always someone worse off than you"

When well meaning family and friends or your social feeds offer  you positive spin after positive spin, don't you sometimes want to scream at the top of your lungs "I KNOWWWWW, BUT I STILL FEEL $#!&!!!!"

I admit, I'm probably (one too many times) an example of those annoying folk trying to buoy you up or help you out of your funk, especially when it's the last thing you want to hear.

Rose-coloured glasses - yep, I'm guilty of owning them. This comes naturally as an Enneagram 7 - joy, hopefulness, fun and laughter. They're some of my favourite things. But they're not the entirety of life, are they?

Certainly not! And we can't want them to be. Without sadness, there'd be no joy. Without heartache, there'd be no love. Without failure, there'd be no growth. We need these spectrums of experience to navigate us through life and provide the teachings we each came here to experience.

Which takes me back to 'hard things'. Without them, there'd be no end game, peace or contentment. Without the contrast, everything in life would be ... well, meh :-(

With this viewpoint front of mind, I'm not going to encourage you to look on the bright-side. Perhaps in an upcoming article, but not today ;-) Today, I offer this one suggestion if you're struggling through a hard time:

DO THE NEXT BEST THING

Is it a drink of water? Great - do that.

Or do you need to sleep? Go lie down.

Maybe you need to cry? That's ok.

A walk outside? A hug? Call a friend? Light a candle?

What's the NEXT BEST THING you can do right now? That's all you need to do. And then repeat. One next best thing. Done. One next best thing. Done. One next best thing. 

Before long, the spectrum of life and it's playful games of ups and downs, will offer you something different - then you get to choose again. One next best thing.