ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

New Year's Resolution Ideas #2: Learning Healthy Coping Mechanisms

Updated on January 4, 2018
Dylan Buckley profile image

Dylan is a freelance writer specializing in self-development, cryptocurrency, and business who loves producing helpful content.

On New Year's Day, I received some unfortunate news about impending homelessness. My mind immediately dreamt up some of the worst visions of living and dying on the streets. I didn't make a plan. I didn't think about how to get out of the situation. I didn't do anything except lie down and accept defeat. It felt like I had slinked back into another depressive episode.

It wasn't until I told my friend about my situation that I could see a faint glimmer of hope. I realized that I didn't have to go down a dark path and that I could salvage my life if I tried hard enough. So far, I'm still pretty confident in myself and I have been coping rather well given my situation.

However, being able to get back on your feet and cope with your issues isn't always a possibility. Some people have never learned how to cope with terrible news and hard times. If this year started off on a bad foot and you need help dealing with whatever it may be, here are some healthy coping mechanisms that will get you through your darkest hours.

1. Meditation

Meditation is well-known for its mental health benefits and has been proven to increase emotional stability in those who practice it. Find some time in the morning to meditate, even if you can only manage to squeeze in 5 minutes. Once you start getting into the routine, you will understand why it is recommended.

2. Exercise

I know it doesn't make sense. Why would you want to get up and exercise when you'd much rather deal with your emotions by lying in bed? Here's the thing: lying in bed will only worsen your negative emotions while exercise will actually give you a positivity boost. When you exercise, your body produces endorphins, which are hormones that make you feel happy. Exercise every day and you're on your way to a much better mindset. Jog, anyone?

3. Positive Affirmations

Before I go into this one, I must state that it doesn't work for everyone. Positive affirmations are small phrases that you say or write down every morning to start your day off right. Some examples of them might be, "I am a money machine and I will create abundance today" or, "I am beautiful and confident". What positive affirmations are designed to do is to help you manifest what you most want in your life by drilling the idea in your head that you already have it. This is a great method for most people.

Some people, such as those who have depression or are just generally negative thinkers, actually report negative results. Why? Well, when you don't believe that you are what you tell yourself you are, your mind will know and you'll feel even worse about yourself than you already do. If you decided to try out positive affirmations, make sure that you believe them to prevent this from happening to you as well.

4. Journaling

You won't always have access to a friend. There will be periods when those closest to you will either be separated from you by distance or will be too busy dealing with their own issues to tackle yours as well. The solution? Journaling! Journaling is great because it allows you to express your feelings to something that will not judge you. A journal will give you the ability to process and look at your emotions without the input of a third party. The downsides? A journal will not be able to comfort you in your time of need. However, it will work until you find someone who can.

5. Volunteering

Have you ever volunteered? I have and it is quite rewarding. Not only do you forget about your problems but you also get lost in the joy of helping others. You may even uncover a new version of you that you never encountered before. How can you start? It's easy! Go online and look for opportunities in your area. If there are none, don't fret. There are plenty of virtual opportunities that will help you achieve the same goal.

While this is a great starter list, there are plenty more ideas online that may help you cope even better. What are you waiting for? Go check them out!

Healthy Coping Skills

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)