When Life Gives You Lemons…Make a List (or 3)

What I do to Deal With A Stressor

In lieu of mental health month along with the fact that my life recently got flipped turned upside down as Will Smith once sang, I thought I’d make a post about what I do when things go awry.

When I found out I had to unexpectedly move by the end of the month I was, as you can imagine, stressed. All the things I had planned to do for the month of May (including a challenge that was actually supposed to be this month’s post) were put on hold and my mind was a mess.

As I’ve mentioned before I am a big list person (I have a list for everything). So, I did what I usually do, I made a list. Actually, I made three.

And these are the three lists I want to share with you all today that for me, put things into perspective and helped me come to terms with the uncertainty of the future. (I'll share the actual lists I made)

List 1: 5 Things That Suck Right Now

It’s important to acknowledge the stressors and things weighing you down first. You need to know what’s wrong in order to make it better.

List 2: 5 Positive Things Right Now

To switch tracks and get your mind in a better place, it’s good to ease into it by just listing some things that don’t suck right now(no mater how big or small). This should help is curbing a little bit of your annoyance from making the first list.

List 3: 5 Positive Things About The Stressor/5 Things You Can Do To Make It Better

Depending on the situation either one (or maybe even both can apply). Sometimes it’s very difficult to find positives in a bad situation (yet I still encourage you to list at least one) so list out things you can do to address it. Conversely, if you are having a hard time thinking of things you can do, then list some positives about the situation (and I still encourage you to find at least one action you can take that will help you feel better).

You can make one or the other or maybe even both, it’s up to you.

I find that making these lists at least gets the thoughts out of your head an on paper so you can see what’s bothering you and what you can do make it better. Making these lists helped me clear my mind about the move and even though I was still stressed out, it was a mental relief to list it out in sizable chucks rather than floating around vaguely in my head. It also helped me see the positives of my situation and soothed my anxiety a bit.

The last part of this process is a little bit more abstract, but it’s good to remind yourself of the significance of change. Obviously, change is hard, but it’s also an integral part of life. If things never changed you would never grow, and understanding this mentality is the backdrop to whatever you may be going through in life. It’s the backdrop of these lists, helping you see that there is good to come of change and this is a chance for you to grow.

There's a lot of sayings and quotes on change, and I'm sure you might have seen most of them, about how Change is the only constant, and There's no growth if there's no change, but the one I found that eased my mind, and my parting words on the matter is this:

I hope that these three lists help you next time you have a stressor or if life is not going your way. Please let me know if they work for you, I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I’ll see you all next month!