When Life Gets Tough

Listing

What to do when life gets tough?

There’s a deceptively simple act of making a list, suggested by authors Ilene Segalove and Paul Bob Velick. I say deceptively simple because we’ve been making a list since we went to the store to get our school supplies. But what a different approach to list making? When we are in the middle of a tough transition and sifting through our thoughts and experiences, we might make these lists, as suggested by Segalove and Velick:

List the real reasons you are inspired to stay alive
List all the times you knew something but didn’t trust your intuition.
List all the prayers, sayings, and chants you’ve been taught that make you feel better.

Then we could think of our own topics for lists…a good/bad list about a time in the past; a list of those things in the past that you’d like to bring forth in the future in a new form; a list of things you assumed before this tough transition happened.

Perhaps you are at a point in the transition when it’s time to make some external changes. Here are a few examples Segalove and Velick give for times like this:

List how you’d like to change your outer life right now
List how you’d like to change your inner life right now
List all the times you’ve fallen flat on your face
List the major changes you feel you need to make in your life right now.
List all the times you’ve gone off the beaten track.
List the ways you sabotage yourself from getting what you want

Or if you just need to amuse yourself for a break, you could make these lists:

List what’s in your glove compartment
List the fantastic pranks you’ve successfully pulled off

Listing as therapy…listing as fun…listing as insight: who would have thought something so “ordinary” and “simple” could be so helpful?

Previous Things that Help When Life Gets Tough

Nature and Outdoor Activities
Gifts
Pets
Photography
Music
Writing
Gardening

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