Stay Strong.

For each and every one of us, life is full of ups and downs. Tough times are inevitable — whether you're dealing with a serious health problem, a financial crisis or the loss of a loved one. It's during those tough times that your mental strength will be tested. It’s naïve to believe life will treat you any differently simply because you are a good person. When life throws you a curveball, if you lack adequate mental strength — challenges can fill you with self-doubt and anxiety. Those feelings, in turn, can then lead to negative thinking. This will affect your behavior, which can inadvertently turn your catastrophic predictions into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Staying strong in the midst of hardship requires you to manage your thoughts, feelings and behavior. It's never easy, however, there are certain steps you can take to ensure you conquer whatever crisis you are going through.

Accept the reality

You don’t have to agree with it or feel OK about whatever it is you are experiencing. But wasting your valuable time on thoughts such as, “It shouldn’t have happened to me," is not productive. If you are not working toward fixing the situation, then why complain about it? Accept reality for what it is. Life is unfair and sometimes things happen to us that we can’t understand. Finding peace and happiness in life does not mean there are no challenges. It means remaining calm and centered in the midst of problems. It’s about letting go of the pictures in your head about how things were "supposed to be" and accepting things for what they really are. Accepting reality is about recognizing what's within your control. When you can't control the situation, focus on controlling yourself.

Behave productively

Your character is shown not by your words, but by your actions. Once you accept the reality, you need to act accordingly. Throwing a pity party or complaining non-stop are not examples of productive behavior. Negative behavior will rob you of your mental strength and waste your time. Even if you are faced with a problem that you can’t solve, you can still decide how you are going to respond to it.

Know that everything is temporary

It seems that most of us are constantly fighting for things to be 100% secure and never-changing, but that’s not really how life works. Everything in life is temporary and ever-changing. Our very lives are temporary. The challenge in life is learning to embrace, accept and respect this. The good news is, the tough situation you are facing today will be gone one day. Rainy days won't last forever. Remind yourself of all your past setbacks and how they came and went. The same fate awaits your current challenge.