How to stay calm during tough situations?

"You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.”- Pema Chodron

‘Will I ever overcome the chaos I am facing in my life? Will there be peace’? How many times I have asked myself these questions in my mind when I was tossed about in my life, with my husband’s renal failure on the one hand and complete lack of financial resources to combat his illness on the other hand. My mind always swayed between lack of confidence to face the situation and my belief in god that he will help me through this nightmare. Destiny took my husband away, but God gave me immense inner strength to overcome it.

Finding peace in difficult situations is not an easy joke and needs incredible grit and determination on your part to win over it. It is no use blaming your ill luck and plunge yourself into depression. You have to find a way out!

1. When you are facing dire situations you become baffled as to how to deal with the chaotic situation. You feel that your problem is going to be never ending. There is no permanent happiness and no permanent sorrow in anyone's life.You should realize that nothing, good or bad is going to last forever.

2. If you become overwhelmed by the situation, your brain becomes cloudy and you lack the ability to think with clarity. The need of the hour is calmness of mind as you have to think with clarity to come our your dire straits. Do you feel it is a difficult thing to do? Of course it is difficult, but you have to do it to come out of your distress.

3. Humor is the wonder medicine of any problems. When you use humor as a shield to deal with any stressed situation it becomes effortless for you to come out of it with comfortable ease. Read comic books, watch comedy shows or movies and lighten your mind.

4. Do not dwell too much on your present pathetic situation.You will feel drowned. Instead visualize yourself coming unscathed out of the chaotic circumstances of your present life which will make you feel confident and less stressed. I have done this in my life with surprising success.

5. You should have an anchor to lean on to survive in this world and let that anchor be god. When my husband passed away, I ceased to pray, blaming god for my irreplaceable loss. Little did I realize that the loss of my husband was my fate and it had nothing to do with God. Only when I relocated Him as my anchor did I find peace and hope. When you pray, you can visibly feel god giving you the strength to face any situation.

6. Regular meditation can soothe your frayed nerves and make you think rationally. Meditation can do wonders to your brain, making it think cohesively and calmly in any chaotic situation. Meditation done early in the morning can bring clarity to your thinking.

7. Never lose hope in any situation. It is when you lose hope does any circumstances assume enormous proportion, making you even more chaotic.Trust and faith in yourself is essential for you to come out of your confused life.

8. Always be optimistic and mingle with optimistic persons. If you are with people who are pessimistic in their attitude, they can make you feel that your situation is insolvable and permanent. If on the other hand you are with optimistic friends they will make you confident and cheerful and you feel you can get out any dire situation.

9. Believe in yourself.You were born to win, not to be defeated. You will learn valuable lessons from your situation which will etch you into a more confident and successful person.

10. Talk out your problems with someone who really cares for you. He might be able to help you and you can take guidance from your parents’ also. Who can love you more than your parents?

'The human being is constantly torn from calm and peace of simple existence by two things; wanting what you don't have, or disliking what you have'.~ Paul Fleischman

Any chaotic situation is there to be fought and not surrendered. You should always realize that things change for the better after you have mastered your chaotic situation. Your belief in yourself should never be shaken and you will be amazed to find yourself evolving into better person after you overcome your problems.