Almost everyone has been taken by surprise by the curves that life presents you. In fact, it happens more than anyone might like to admit. When it happens you feel like you have been punched in the gut. You almost lose your breath and every bit of happy drains out of you. However, it does not have to be like that. Instead, you can increase your hope for tomorrow by preparing to be flexible.
Preparing to be flexible. What exactly does that mean? It almost sounds like an oxymoron. How do you prepare for flexibility? In actuality there is some preparation that you can do to help increase your overall flexibility. If you take the time to build up these skills you will find yourself better able to deal with unexpected circumstances.
The first thing that you need to do is to create some coping mechanisms for yourself. Being happy in life doesn't mean that you have no hardships in your life. It is really about keeping things in perspective. All too often the smallest inconveniences get blown out of proportion.
When you find yourself coming up against tough circumstances don't allow them to overwhelm you. You can equip yourself with techniques to keep your cool. This can be simply taking a few deep breaths, teaching yourself how to ground your thoughts so that they do not run away with you, or even maintaining a happy place that you can visualize yourself in.
You can also develop techniques for handling difficult circumstances. Often this requires you to hold off on taking action until you can truly evaluate the circumstances that you are in. This can be difficult because it is human nature to simply react to stimuli.
Happy circumstances don't often come from this type of instinctual reaction. You want to train yourself to wait to act until you truly understand the circumstances around you. This may mean gathering information from other sources, writing a pro/con list, or simply visualizing the potential outcomes. Once you have gathered the necessary information then you can develop a plan of action.
You can also develop the skill of visualization for you to truly prepare to be flexible. Visualization can be incredibly helpful when it comes to mapping out your course of action with any circumstance. You can visualize the positive scenarios for yourself. You also want to visualize how you will handle adverse circumstances. This can help you to flesh out the best tactics to keep at hand. It can also help you to become more aware of potential missteps that you may make.
While you can never be fully prepared for everything that crosses your path, you can prepare to be flexible in the future. By doing this you will set yourself up for greater success in the long run. So take the time to develop your coping mechanisms, determine your tactics for how you handle difficult circumstances, and use your visualization skills for your own benefit.
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