Strengths And Strategies

What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?

What a timely question! The match week is one of the toughest seasons for residency hopefuls in the United States. It is riddled with a lot of anxiety and all sorts. This is the week, and it has been tough on the mind.

Here are a few strategies that I’ve used to cope this week:

1. Eat A Healthy Breakfast: eating a healthy breakfast takes care of the tendencies to indulge in stress eating.

2. Look Your Best: Dressing well and looking good takes care of your esteem needs while you deal with difficult seasons.

3. Listen to Music: Sometimes, it may be difficult to quiet the mind with meditation. Calming music is a passive but functional tool for quieting the mind.

4. Show Kindness: Showing kindness to others when you’re going through a difficult phase reminds you to be kind and compassionate towards yourself.

5. Talk to people who care about what you’re dealing with. It’s insensible to pretend to be alright when you’re not. There’s no award for being the most mentally strong person alive. So, talk to people and listen too.

6. Remain Graceful: it is the most irresponsible adult thing to act recklessly towards people and claim that it is because you’re going through a lot of stress. Composure is a superpower.

7. Stay Grounded: when stressful emotions set in, impulse control may become deranged. Make sure that your values and principles are always easily accessible both within and outside.

8. Avoid Triggering Conversations or Encounters: it is not your responsibility to manage other people’s defaults when you’re struggling with difficult emotions. Even when you’re not struggling within, it is still not your responsibility to manage another adult’s excesses. Take care of your peace first.

9. Seek A Healthy Novelty: Doing something new and exciting is a way of boosting your dopamine levels which can help to lower the intensity of the negative feelings. Novelties could be as simple as going to a butterfly park, visiting an observatory, or making art.

10. Take A Nap: I am a strong believer that there’s nothing that a restful nap can’t fix. A good deep sleep provides brain flossing and refreshes the mind. So does a good night’s sleep.

Remember, you must take care of yourself first before you can be functional to the people you serve in various capacities. Be the adult who is safe to relate with and can be relied upon to remain calm when it gets challenging.