What to Do When Nothing Goes Right

He had started to realize that it wasn’t going to happen for him.

He was in his fifties. 

He was suffering from a disease that had led to muscle weakness and fatigue. 

Hepatitis B had already finished his liver by 75 percent. 

His new venture had collapsed. He had to mortgage his home to pay loans. 

After decades of unparalleled success, his fortune had changed and he became bankrupt.

That was Amitabh Bachchan before he began his second innings in Bollywood and bounced back to a stage all of us are aware of. Today, he has an international following and is worth more than ₹ 3,000 Crores ($400 million).

We all get bad days. It is one thing to have a bad experience, but occasionally life takes us through entire stretches of time when nothing goes right.

Like a row of dominoes, one thing after another comes crashing down.

Overcoming difficult situations certainly takes time, but it also requires grit, self-awareness, and recognizing the moment when to take a break.

That’s what this post is about – finding out ways to pause, recover and get going again.

First thing first, tell your heart this happens to everyone. Accept it, even if you don’t see others going through it right now. You don’t know what their past has been or can say anything about what they are going through just by looking at their faces.

When factors leading to a tough situation are out of your control, you may feel completely singled out, like a victim. Don’t fall in that zone. It drains too much energy, making you grumpy and sometimes hopeless.

Trust me when I say – each of us stumbles. Those success stories that you read on social media are only a crux of all the struggles a person has faced in two lines. Everyone falls. Even the world champions. But the grace, the real struggle is getting back up, faster, stronger, and unshakable.

That’s what Amitabh Bachchan did.

But easy for someone like him to bounce back, right? After all, many rich, influential people know him.

The truth is that for someone like him, the failures are more difficult to overcome. Because of the mammoth amount of visibility he gets, his every downfall is also magnified 10 times. Not to count the shame, trolling and fall from grace. If someone like me fails, only my family would know; but if a celebrity fails, the whole world is there to scrutinize, give unsolicited advice and make snide remarks.

Setbacks allow us to put a little perspective in order and reignite passion to succeed. Here are a few strategies to help you stay positive and get back on track, no matter what happens.

Be ready, adapt to change

When things don’t go according to the plan, change the way to plan.

As we set meaningful goals, we tend to push ourselves full throttle. When nothing goes right, it can disrupt our momentum and throw us off course. This feels extremely discouraging, especially when you’ve already worked so hard toward your goal. One of the ways to destress is to use positive affirmations. On the days your hard work isn’t paying off, be ready to adapt to newer ways.

Self Improvement in The Times of Corona Pandemic : ReEducating the Mind

Do you miss your school? Those stomach-rumbling noises of inside before exams? The excitement of stepping into a new class, feeling of how you covered one more year, crossed one more hurdle &; are nearer to the goal of becoming what you dreamt? 

I am reminded of those days again. Corona pandemic has reintroduced exam-time house-rest in our lives except that this is the time to check how much better each of us has become individually. 

Some lines of being successful, rich, or poor have blurred. We all have come to the same platform of self-discipline. Getting up early even when there is no office, maintaining a routine, helping family members and keeping control over self on not getting addicted to Netflix or smartphones are just a few things to be learned.

The current education is of building habits & becoming a better version of ourselves. We literally have the most valuable resources of our lives on our hands – ‘Time’ – Lockdown has given us loads of it. 

How we use it well, is what the trick is all about. 

I personally like these peaceful days. The freelancing gigs have dipped because the world has kind-of stopped, but the spirit is ever spirited. In my humble experience, there are 3 steps that can help us to use this second lockdown to build new habits. 

Suggestion 1: Morning Meditation: One of the habits I learnt by observing Brahmakumaris is getting up early. When the day starts at 3:30 or 4:00 am, you get time to do more in the same 24 hours. Morning meditation is one of the easiest habits to start your mind on a healthy note. 

Early morning is the time when the cosmic energies of the universe are in total sync with each other. The physical disturbance of other human beings is lesser as compared to the rest of the day, making it easier to find peacefulness around that time. 

To build a meditation habit:

·     Create a meditative corner in your home. It can be your sofa, temple, terrace, balcony or any place you find peaceful. 

·     Get up half an hour to 45 minutes early from your usual time. Use this time to connect with God, a point of light, ocean infinite energies. Feel the power of God around self and your family members. Give everyone you know vibrations of peace, tranquillity and happiness, for we are living in the times that these three things are needed most by all of us. 

    Suggestion 2: Chuck-Out Desires: We have been given this golden opportunity to evaluate what is important to us and build our habits around that. Make a list of your desires and see how much of them are truly needed for you to be happy. 
      Examine your daily routine and find out the ways in which your mind thinks excessive wasteful thoughts. Don't let TV, Netflix, or your smartphone ruin your thinking process. Learn to tune-out from the negative news or cheap comments in the name of humor. Read, learn a new skill, talk to your parents, clean your wardrobe, cook for your family - build productive habits that make people those around you happy. 

     Suggestion 3: Accept The New Roles: Once eating out 3-4 times a week was normal, but now people are happily accepting simpler meals and luxuries of home-cooked food. Those who had chauffeur-driven cars are cleaning utensils at home or children who talked to their friends throughout the day are helping parents in managing the chores of their homes. A lot of our roles have reversed or changed and hence the mindset should change too. 

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Read More:

• 26 Hacks for Self-Motivation – Motivate Yourself Everyday
• Forgive, Forget and Move on
• Stress Management through Worry Management
• Spiritual Quotient Learning
• http://offbeatspirituality.blogspot.com/2009/12/spiritual-quotient-learning-iii.html

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Only those who can change with time can stay afloat when the tides rise. If you want to be a better version of yourself, grab this opportunity to do something for which you’d always feel nice about yourself. Start by getting up early, knowing your priorities, and accepting the changing roles. This is the need of the hour. Whether you listen to it or not, that, of course, depends on you. 

Peace & Smiles,

N

Originally Published Here: ReEducation in The Times of Corona