If you dread answering this question, you’re not alone. Every day, we are exposed to many different stressors that affects not only our body but also our mind. We are weighed down by all the stress from home, work, or even just watching the news. We feel broken inside, even if we’re still capable of smiling and laughing on the outside. Now, you are aware that there’s a problem. You may feel alone, like drowning in a vast ocean, grasping for air. Awareness is actually the first step to solving your problem. You can do something about it, no matter how bad you feel right now, no matter how heavy your burden feels like.
This is what comes after acknowledging your problem. Rather than keeping it bottled up and brewing, you’re actually taking initiative in addressing whatever issues you have. By recognizing the problem and actually taking a step towards the right direction, you’re already on the road to recovery. There are ways to help you heal, some can even be done on your own, without others help. Getting help is actually good, but right now let us focus on the things that you can do on your own, as a preliminary step in the process of healing.
What calms this pain? What causes an individual to recuperate?
These are the initial things you ask or look for to find healing. But right now, that won’t be enough. You should accompany your distress-relief with actions that only you can do.
Being yourself helps
Despite all the problems, try your best to be yourself and act naturally. This implies requesting what you need, defining limits, having your own convictions and sentiments, standing for your beliefs and values, wearing what you want to wear, eating what you want to eat, saying what you want to say, and doing many other ways that you can define yourself. It’s easy to say, “be yourself,” but actually doing it may need a bit more effort and willpower from you.
Reimagine and Reinvent yourself
Done being yourself? Now try reimagining what you want yourself to be and actually try to achieve that version on your own. Your traits, attributes and proclivities may define who you are now, but that shouldn’t limit who you aspire to be. You can help yourself reduce the emotional hurt or distress by becoming a person that experiences these distresses less—a calm, less critical version of yourself. You can teach yourself to be a more productive, be less self-abusive person—or at least try to be.
Personality 2.0
Just like a device getting patched with an upgrade, you too can improve your personality. This is quite similar to reimagining and reinventing yourself, but only more focused on your personality. Evaluate yourself right now: are you angrier than you would like to be? More abrasive? Less disciplined? The fact that you recognized these character flaws shows that you’re on your path to your personality upgrade. Act upon these issues and you’ll see yourself evolve slowly, until you can finally see that you now have the personality that you’ve always wanted for yourself.
