How To Use Mindfulness When Navigating Difficult Life Issues

As I sit here reflecting on a very challenging week, I can’t help but notice the impact mindfulness has on the way I now observe, and deal with problems.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not about to write an article telling you that being mindful will solve all your problems.

It definitely won’t.

It won’t even stop you having moments of negativity and feeling pretty rubbish when life gets on top of you.

What it will do, is provide you with a tool to navigate difficult situations when they arise.

I’ve had the week from hell, I didn’t see a positive side to anything at the start of the week. Everything was going wrong, and I was stuck in a negative thought pattern.

Why am I telling you this?

Because we’ve all been there. If someone would have told me to be grateful and positive a few days ago, I think I would have had a few choice words to say to them.

Sometimes, we just need to be mad. We need to be negative and feel a bit sorry for ourselves.

I noticed something though. Even though I wanted to be negative, I wanted to feel sorry for myself, I observed that I was allowing it to happen.

Being Mindfully Negative (5 Steps)

We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be kind, practice self-love, and be positive.

I think it’s healthy to be mindfully negative and have a little self-pity every now and again.

It’s been proven that crying to release emotion is actually healthy and works to make us feel better.

If you think about the times you have had a good cry, usually this is followed by feeling much better and more positive.

Obviously, if negative thinking and accompanying emotions are a regular thing, that’s not healthy or good for us.

I’m talking about those moments when life just gets on top of you. When you’re so done with being positive and you want to feel sorry for yourself.

1. Focus on How You Feel

Let yourself feel however you feel.

Angry. Sad. Fearful. Anxious. Guilty. Hard done by. Overwhelmed.

Mindfulness is all about honouring the present moment.

Don’t deny yourself any of the feelings just because they are negative. Bring them to forefront, focus on them. Have a tantrum and ugly cry if it’s what you feel like.

2. Take as Long as You Need

You might think ‘ok, I’ve allowed myself a ten-minute pity party, time to snap out of it’.

It’s better to wait until you’re ready. It’s important not to suppress negativity. If you do, you’ll put it back in a box, but it’ll come bursting out again with a vengeance.

3. Reach Out to the Universe for Help

Talk out loud, in your mind, or you could write it down.

What do you need help with? Say it or write it down. Be clear and specific.

4. Look Out for Synchronicities

Related Post – Synchronicity: Coincidence or Signs From the Universe?

Earlier this week, I felt like I was spiralling in a hole of negativity and bad news.

Cue the pity party. I sat down at my desk and said aloud what I needed help with.

Then two things happened.

First, the radio started playing Tomorrow by James. For those not familiar with the song, the lyrics are:

I see you falling

How long to go before you hit the ground

You keep on screaming

Don’t you see me here

Am I a ghost to you

Now your grip’s to strong

You can’t catch love with a net or a gun

Gotta keep faith that your path will change

Gotta keep faith that your luck will change

Tomorrow

Funnily enough, my luck did change the following day.

Second, at precisely 11:11am, my friend called me for a chat.

It was highly, unusual. We always text but hardly ever speak on the phone.

I was surprised by how quickly these synchronicities happened. It was like the universe answered me immediately.

It is exactly why I have every confidence that these steps will work for you and everyone else.

5. When You’re Ready, Write Down Your Options

Once you’ve focused on and then released your burst of negative emotions, look at what you can do.

Often, negative bursts are as a result of a problem or problems becoming overwhelming. When that is the case, it’s hard to focus on just the parts you can influence or change.

When you feel ready, make a list. Write down the problem and what your options are.

The act of writing it down will make you feel like you have more control. When it’s written out on paper, it’ll be easier to digest, and plan a way forward.

Remember to only focus on things you can change or influence.

What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is simply living in the present moment.

It doesn’t say that the present moment always has to be pleasant and positive.

Eckhart Tolle is one of the best Spiritual Teachers in my opinion. I read his book, The Power of Now a few years ago and it had a profound impact on my understanding of mindfulness.

One of Eckhart’s teachings is that there are never any problems in the present moment.

Think about it.

Right now, you may think you have many problems. But in this moment, you really don’t.

You just have your mind worrying about a problem that needs addressing in the future.

Sometimes action is needed in the present moment but, even then, it’s the mind that creates and worries about a problem.

Joseph Nguyen explains a similar concept in his book, Don’t Believe Everything You Think.

Joseph looks at ways our mind creates the reality we live in and, reveals ways we can change our reality using our thoughts.

Using Mindfulness

Next time you find yourself at breaking point, try using the steps I have outlined above. Come back to me and let me know if it helped you.

Living a mindful life is not easy. Developing small mindful habits will have a massive effect on your life over time.

If you are working toward manifesting anything into your life, how you handle setbacks, and the stresses of life will determine the outcome.

Related Post – Law of Attraction: How to Manifest The Life of Your Dreams