I recently got an email from a coach that has been going through some rough times and he talked about different approaches to dragging ourselves out of the black hole of feeling bad, depressed and being miserable. He asked for examples of how others help themselves get back to feeling well mentally. This got me thinking...
Here is my view...
Get the roller coaster car up the hill
First, we all have a normal state of being. From this normal or most frequent state, we deviate up (elation) and down (well... we all have different words for how this feels). When we are below the our normal state of being, It is helpful to have tools, techniques, structures to help us get back to our normal state, earlier than we would without those things. These "Pick Me Ups" are used quite frequently. If you think about how we feel as a roller coaster (ups and downs, some small, some big), this is all about what we need to get that roller coaster car back up the long, difficult hill after the big plunge.
Change the ride!
Secondly, sometimes we want to move that normal state of being to a new plane, a new level of happiness, well being and satisfaction. This is big change and requires new habits, new ways of thinking of about things. This means the tools, techniques and structures to help us do this are probably different from those above. Again thinking about the roller coaster, this means... it is time to change our ride... we get off this roller coaster and go look for a better one!
So, knowing what we want (a Pick Me Up or a Big Change) helps us choose the solutions we need.
Roller Coaster Picture from "© Andre Klaassen Dreamstime.com"
Here is my view...
Get the roller coaster car up the hill
First, we all have a normal state of being. From this normal or most frequent state, we deviate up (elation) and down (well... we all have different words for how this feels). When we are below the our normal state of being, It is helpful to have tools, techniques, structures to help us get back to our normal state, earlier than we would without those things. These "Pick Me Ups" are used quite frequently. If you think about how we feel as a roller coaster (ups and downs, some small, some big), this is all about what we need to get that roller coaster car back up the long, difficult hill after the big plunge.
Change the ride!
Secondly, sometimes we want to move that normal state of being to a new plane, a new level of happiness, well being and satisfaction. This is big change and requires new habits, new ways of thinking of about things. This means the tools, techniques and structures to help us do this are probably different from those above. Again thinking about the roller coaster, this means... it is time to change our ride... we get off this roller coaster and go look for a better one!
So, knowing what we want (a Pick Me Up or a Big Change) helps us choose the solutions we need.
Roller Coaster Picture from "© Andre Klaassen Dreamstime.com"
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