Surviving a sudden life hardship

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Surviving a Sudden Life Hardship

I have overcome many hardships in my life. I am a survivor who is grateful for not only the blessings but the suffering that has blessed me with lessons learned. This month (October, 2009)  is my 1 year job loss anniversary. I don’t even remember seeing the colors last fall, which is actually my favorite season. I walked around like a zombie, numb at first, and then later my emotions turned into confusion, embarrassment, anger and eventually I felt hurt. After the initial impact, I was eventually able to free my feelings, embrace the situation and find my silver lining. Suddenly I had a flexible schedule enabling me to explore my artistic inspirations and then  begin marketing my drawings and writings. Today, I’m grateful for the opportunity this time has gifted. I trust myself, and I have faith my new career will generate enough income to support my needs and because of this, I’m a much happier person!

This is the mindset that inspired the below article that was originally posted on Examiner.com before it closed its doors.

It seems our life journey can be very trying at times but in hindsight the experience really prepares, gifts strength and offers insight for future endeavors. Sometimes we feel fortunate, we had a close call and only the tip of an ice berg surfaced and, other times, we are less fortunate and it feels like the iceberg just took down our ship leaving us gasping for air! 

When such tragedy strikes and our worst fears come to pass, it is so important to be present; to feel the situation. Do not choose to ignore it hoping it will go away; denial is not the answer it only prolongs the agony. It is scary to embrace a fear but it is necessary to begin to process in order to free the negative energy.  Otherwise, your raincloud will turn into a severe storm if you are not processing.  Have you ever had a bad moment turn into a bad day that turned into a bad week and so on? Your destructive reaction to the drama fed the bad energy. Let’s face it, we’re all human and therefore, most of us initially react to drama negatively. Beyond the initial reaction, we have to figure out how to get over the impact and how to find something positive from the misfortune to change our energy. This is the foundation that will enable us to move forward again! This grounding course of action is essential for us to start to find our footing. Once the initial shock is over and the impact is felt, we can process the situation and begin searching for its silver lining.  What lesson can this hardship teach?  If we can find something positive from the trial, maybe the glass is suddenly half full instead of half empty. Perhaps, now we are more educated and less naïve, maybe we are more cautious or maybe we found friendship, someone we may have never met without the mishap. It is critical to take something from the ordeal; this validates the encounter and helps us to avoid reliving the tribulation time and time again. 

We all know the old sayings, “live and learn” and “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”  This strength carries us through life’s valleys and instills our appreciation for life’s mountain highs!

Click here to learn about resiliency from trauma.

If you can relate to this, I invite you to share your story!