The Positive Side of Unpleasant Experiences

Why is it that some people seem to be able to weather difficult storms in life with strength while others shut down at the mere thought of disappointment?

It all boils down to personal resilience and your ability to adapt. The good news is resilience is learned.

You can learn new ways to respond to your own thoughts and feelings when unpleasant experiences arise. Though we can’t always control life’s challenges and setbacks, we can control the way they make us feel.

Life’s Difficulties Help Us Gain Perspective

Your vacation cruise was canceled because of a hurricane …
You’ve been searching for a new job for months now with no success…
You lost a loved one this year…

All of these difficulties, whether small or big, are about personal perception. For example, if you perceive a difficult situation as threatening, you might lose your ability to face it. This can lead to an endless cycle of negativity and avoidance. In stead of adapting and building your inner strength, you continue to shut down. However, if you change your prospective, you can develop coping abilities and work toward peace, happiness, and resolution.

Setbacks Can Make Us Stronger

There are many opportunities to develop resilience daily in our lives. Setbacks force us to weather the storm or come up with another plan. This type of adaptation helps us grow. It helps strengthen our resilience. Even the little unpleasant experiences in life like spilled coffee, running late, or
locking your keys in the car can help build resilience and strength.

Challenges Expand Our Emotional Capacity.

Compassion, love, empathy, pain, disappointment, and grief are just a few emotions that arise from unpleasant experiences. Pain gives us a great insight on self knowledge and awareness. These challenges help us strengthen our mental and emotional wellness.

We can’t avoid pain, setbacks, depression, anxiety, and unpleasant experiences in life. But, we can work on ways to overcome them. Ways to welcome happiness and build inner strength. We can learn to treat ourselves with kindness.

If you’d like to learn more about ways to alleviate depression and manage anxiety, learn more about our upcoming Freedom From Anxiety & Depression Weekend Intensive.

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