Don’t jump into the water!
It is hard to stay positive when you know life is rough. It is hard to keep that smile on your face, when you are trying to hold back tears. It’s hard to laugh and hard to love when you are filled with fear and doubt. Others will tell you to keep your head up, to get over it and be happy again, but do they know what you go through? Do they live with you, pay your bills, write your budget for the month, or even know how much you have to pay for rent? The answer is no, most of the time, that is. But they might have a point.
If you are an average American, you might be struggling, right now. I know I am no longer living comfortably. It is rough, and I don’t know how long it may take to get out of the situation. The truth is, I made a huge mistake that I’m pay for, now. It sucks. I fight back anger, every day. I try to stay strong, because that is who I am supposed to be. I am Blake. I am the happy clown that puts a smile on everyone’s face. I can’t be upset, I can’t stress, I have to be strong. But when is it my time to be sad, depressed, angry and broken? If you’re an average American, I probably just hit you hard with that similarity, yes! We are alike. You aren’t the only one that is struggling with these feelings. You aren’t the only one that has trouble breathing when you think about all the things you can’t do. You aren’t alone. So what happens now? Where do we go after we realize that we are broken?
The answer is simple. We go back to the beginning. We get over the small things and make plans on how to fix the bigger issues. This sounds so simple, but it’s not. It will take everything you have, but, it will work out!
The first step is to GET UP! Life isn’t over just because you fell and feel like you can’t get back up. You have a boo-boo but it isn’t critical. Get up! That is the most important thing. Get up from the ground and fight back! Breathe and know that everything will be okay! It isn’t the end of the world, but it is the end of your fear! You will get through this with the love and support of your friends and family. If it wasn’t for the strong encouragement of my wife, Ariel, I wouldn’t be as strong as I am. Yes, you will still be hurting, stressed, and possibly will fall again! But with these people beside you, you will make it. I Promise. They will be your security blanket in the hard times. Never try to do this alone. EVER!
The second step is to make a plan. I would never go into a war without the best outline, ever, neither should you! Take a minute from your crazy life and write down goals, a budget, and solutions. What do you want in the next 5 years? Well, I want to be debt free. Okay! How? I’ll pay the minimums on my credit cards, I’ll sell what I don’t use (you know, that boat that you bought, even though you live in the city and don’t even know where the nearest river is?) , and I’ll stop going to McDonald’s and I’ll use that dang cook book that my mom bought me! I will then put that money back so I can finally pay more on my credit card! Okay! What solutions will help you get your life back together? If I didn’t have debt, that would be a big relief. I’m not happy with my current job, so I’ll look for a new one, I am not happy with my weight, so I’ll workout 4 days a week. See, it isn’t that hard to make a plan. Most people don’t take time to make a plan, and that is why they usually never see results. They want everything to go back to normal, but they never change their way of living. How do you expect change, when you never put in the work? Getting your life together is 20% materials and 80% your will to be different.
The Third step is simple; Stop stressing the small stuff!
I learned a lesson a year ago, right around this time; this lesson was “Stop stressing the small things.” A guy told me that when I was in the line at a pretzel shop. Ariel and I were waiting in line for a bucket of yummy, Cinnamon pretzel nuggets. We were talking about the fact that Christmas was coming up and that we didn’t want to spend that much money. The guy interrupted and told us to not stress over the little things, because life is too short to lose sleep over things that won’t matter in a year. This hit me when I thought about it. How many times do we over stress about the smallest things. It might seem important, but when it’s over, you realize that the situation wasn’t that serious after all. You were able to solve the issue pretty quick, and shouldn’t have lost sleep over it. In this case, Ariel and I ended up having a great Christmas, even though we didn’t spend that much money. In other cases, we were able to find a hole in our budget and got back in the race, quickly. YES! There are certain cases that you won’t be able to fix it immediately, but with a solid plan, all things will be solved in due time. This is where your faith in your plan has to be strong. You won’t stick to the plan if you think it isn’t bulletproof, so you best believe it’s bulletproof. After you believe in yourself, then you might not be stress less, but you won’t feel like the whole world is on your shoulders, anymore.
The last thing is what I have always done, that is laugh, dangit! Why mope around when you can’t fix things? Why do we get depressed and let the darkness take over our rainbow? Being negative all the time is like jumping into a raging river. You know it will never end well, but yet you still jump, why? Stop jumping into the water, stop letting the pain get you down. When I get upset, I try to find a way to make a joke out of it, and it has worked. I know this isn’t the best advice, as some of you aren’t like me, I know, but just try it. Laughter is the best medicine to a broken heart. In my situation, I will make jokes because I know how stupid I was for doing what I did. Ariel and I make jokes all the time now when it comes to the situation. Laughter will change everything. When you laugh, it is like you are taking the sting and pain away from the antagonist, leaving them defenseless and weak. Learn how to keep a smile on your face, because no situation is big enough to take your smile away. Laugh, my peeps, laugh. It will help.
What I am saying is; stop letting depression win. Get up from the ground and live the best life that you can. Laugh when you are hurt, smile when you are broken, and learn to love. Find people that will pull you from the river and cover you with their safety. Learn to not stress over the small things and to make plans for anything that seems impossible, because God has your back. This isn’t a spiritual post, but these are the simple things I do to keep that beautiful smile on my face, at all times. I have been through the worse times, ever, but somehow, I have been able to find a way to stay positive. I want to give you four simple things you need to do anytime you’re down; Get up, Make a plan, Stop stressing the small things and for gosh sake, LAUGH! When you master those 4 things, you will be so much happier, and the small things will no longer have a hold on your heart! I LOVE YOU, GUYS! Thank you for the support and I hope to see you in the next post: How to get over him/her.