Did you ever feel like your life is off kilter? Everything is going fine, but suddenly you don’t feel like you normally do.
Types of Activities that Throw Us for a Loop
Certain life events (even good things!) can throw us for a loop — and they don’t have to be life-or-death situations. Some examples are:
1) Illness
2) Returning from vacation
3) Visitors in our home
4) Too much activity at once
5) Disruptions from our routine — lack of sleep, long hours at work, not enough exercise, etc.
6) Misunderstandings with friends, loved ones
7) Transportation woes: car in the shop or not running well, being in a wreck
8) Doing something dumb at home, or making a mistake at work
Figuring Out Exactly What’s “Off”
When life abruptly seems out of whack and left of center, the best thing is to pause and determine exactly what’s bothering you — to pinpoint the problems.
Often, it’s not a single thing, but several things at once that cause us to feel off balance.
One out-of-the-ordinary thing, you can handle. Maybe even two things.
But when three or more unusual situations occur at once, it can be really unsettling!
Thinking Things Through to Search for Potential Solutions
In my experience, after I determine exactly what’s happening in my life that makes me feel “off,” the next step is to take time to think each item through.
You may, for example, realize the following things are happening:
- You just got a haircut and feel unattractive and less confident than usual
- You made a mistake at work
- You’re overwhelmed by too many things happening in your life at once
Ask yourself these questions about each item: Is it really significant in the big picture? Is there anything you can do about it to make yourself and people around you feel better (apologize, explain, etc.)?
If it’s one of those “it won’t matter in a year” things and there’s nothing you can do to fix it, it’s OK is to give yourself permission to simply “let it go.” And really try to go easy on yourself and let it go! That would work with the “made a mistake at work” above, unless you need to apologize to someone about it and make it right. Otherwise, remember we all make mistakes.
Many times, logical thinking and deciding to let go — or taking action to counteract one or more situations — is a sure-fire way to bring back balance, and that “normal” feeling.
You can try to style your hair differently (in the example above) or wear your favorite clothes to increase your self-confidence and draw attention away from your hair, and you can make daily “to-do” lists to be sure you’re focusing on top-priority activities.
If All Else Fails…
The next best thing — if the suggestions above don’t work — is to calculate how soon things will return to normal. (For example, “I’ll get used to my haircut in a week, and it will grow back soon.”) Then tell yourself you can enjoy life and hang on until then!
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