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Overcoming adversity – 4 powerful tips

By Operation-Meditation

Do not fear the winds of adversity. Remember: A kite rises against the wind rather than with it.
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We are all faced with challenging times in our lives sooner or later. You can’t choose the events around you all the time, but you can choose how you react to them. The way that you choose to respond to adversity in your life will have a strong bearing on how you cope with the tough times, and on whether adversity will end up being a source of growth for you or a slippery slope of destruction.

Here are 4 powerful tips to help you to choose the right path:

1. Step back to see the big picture

When times are tough it can be difficult to keep a focused view. The ability to take a step or two backwards and view your circumstances as a ‘big picture’ can be really liberating. Sometimes things can even start to look a bit better. It can be really difficult to do this when you are stressed and some special techniques can be very useful here.
The most powerful tool to help with this re-assessment process is meditation. Meditation helps silence the noise and chatter in your mind and allows you to enter your inner quiet place. Meditation also allows you to access your subconscious mind – a source of great wisdom and knowledge. Most people only access a tiny proportion of their mind potential in their everyday life, but through learning the strategies to accessing the subconscious, this vast storage of wisdom can be unlocked.
From this vantage-point, using the tools of meditation, you may well discover new solutions to your problems and will come to know an inner strength and courage that you may have been unaware that you possessed.

2. Call for backup

A lesson that can be difficult to learn is that friends actually want to help when you are in trouble. Calling on a friend in tough times shows that friend that you trust and honor the friendship enough to fall back on it’s strength when you are weak. So, don’t be afraid to call your friends and family when you are not coping so well. If they ask if there is anything they can do to help then show grace and humility by allowing them to. You may get the chance to help your friend to overcome some adversity in their own life at another time.

3. Break it down

If things start to feel overwhelming then bring in your sights a little. Meditation will have helped you get an overview of the ‘big picture’ but to get there you need to first get through each day. Spend some time at breakfast making simple plans just for the day at hand. Sometimes, just keeping one foot plodding after another is all that is required until the dust settles around you.

4. Prioritize time to ‘fill your own cup’

As you work towards overcoming adversity in your life, it is essential that you take care of yourself. Time to replenish your own body and spirit needs to come high on your priority list – it is even more essential when times are tough than when things are going along well. Commit to eating well – fresh healthy foods will give you so much more energy and resilience. Make sure to schedule in some daily exercise or activity. Even a 20 minute walk is enough if you are short of time. For maximum regenerating power, try to exercise outside – there is really good evidence for the power of time in ‘green spaces’ to relieve anxiety and feelings of stress.

When times are tough, it can be easy to fall victim to despair but following these powerful tips to overcoming adversity will see you thrive and grow as you survive the difficult patches of your life.

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