Life can be hard sometimes.

I kept thinking, what are all the things that I do to help me when I’m especially in a funk. As I’ve been considering how I can turn that around, I realized there are some ways that I can proactively manifest positivity into my life.

I think this is especially important in this pandemic world where things change often and it can be very difficult to thrive and not just survive each day.

In a way, this list seems so simple but even still I find just making the list and thinking of these things helps me realize that we have tools at our disposal to help us manifest positivity instead of sitting in our numbness.

And trust me, this list is very much for myself as much as I hope it can help others.

1. Write a Gratitude List

• This is number one because I think it is so very important. Often, when we are struggling, it can be difficult to remember all that we have been blessed with. I know it sounds cliché and we’ve heard it before, but actually sitting and writing down all the things we are grateful for can help open our eyes to the positivity we already have in our lives instead of being stuck in whatever current situation we are facing. I just had a realization the other day that I was given an amazing career that God handed to me and in my worry about other things and blinders to just that situation, I completely missed the levity of this opportunity that I have been given. It also came about in a round-a-bout way, and that can happen to us so unexpectedly. That is why it is even more important to reflect and take note of all our blessings.

2. Pray

• Almost as equally important as a gratitude list, is to pray. Prayer is vitally important to our spiritual well-being. We have been created by a God who delights in us as our scripture says. Prayer doesn’t mean to just ask for what we want and therefore continue sulking; prayer is to be thankful, spend time in God’s presence, have quiet meditative time to reflect, and a time to listen. In this time, we can receive answers to questions that grip us, we can find some inner peace in a quiet moment spent with our Creator who loves us, we are spending time with ourselves and getting to know our own hearts and how we communicate with God and what types of things our hearts are telling us. The Holy Spirit can stir our spirits and give us revival, He can share with us some insight into what’s to come, and He can provide peace and joy when we are struggling.

3. Get outside

• I have to remind myself of this often. Especially during this pandemic and ESPECIALLY in the winter. I often minimize the importance of nature. It can feel so cozy to just curl up on the couch and close out the world, but then we miss so much. We miss the fresh air in our lungs, we miss the wind sweep our face, we miss our legs burn from a walk outside especially in the cold and that feeling helps us feel a sense of accomplishment. We miss smelling the crispness of the snow or in other seasons, the leaves, the flowers, the grass. We miss smiling at our neighbors and feeling like part of a community. Too often we are held up in our homes and we only ever exist in the confounds of our small family unit, blocking out others and shielding ourselves from the outside. I don’t know about you, but I fall into this constantly and it is really affecting my mental health and my husband’s too. Work from home seems great until you realize how much you’re missing all these things. In that realization, it is SO important to be intentional about going outside.
• Also, just to add to being outside. It reminds me of when I was a kid and I wanted nothing more than to be outside a lot of the time. Life was a lot more carefree then and I really miss those days. I think we can get some of that back if we’re intentional about getting out.

4. Spend time with family/friends

• This kind of goes hand in hand with being outside, but man life is so much better with other people. Even watching church on Sundays from the live stream at home; you would think that I would be fulfilled from that, I was with the Lord and I learned what I was supposed to, but it isn’t remotely the same. It’s about the fellowship with other people too. Lately, I have realized how isolated I have been when I’ve started seeing more people. It felt so good to be around them. I have struggled to even make the effort to reach out to others and texting someone can seem so daunting sometimes because there are days when I don’t feel I have the emotional capacity to even talk to someone, even my closest friend. However, I am learning that I need to take whatever social opportunities I can, within reason. The more we get out and socialize, the easier it is. This seems silly to talk about it this way, but in this pandemic world, this is a very real thing. In addition, when you’re going through something or your anxiety is in the way, this is a hard thing. Just try. Take baby steps to get back. Put boundaries in place so that you’re not drained, but only lifted up in that socialization. It really helps.

5. Put on your favorite song and dance

• This is so silly and I can’t say I have necessarily done this, but I really should. It’s a little harder for me because my relationship with music is different now because of my career choice. Sometimes music is related to work. That’s when I turn to praise music. Praising the Lord and dancing to His music brings me to a whole new place. But even still, when I hear my songs that make me want to jam, even that are secular, it is a wasted opportunity to sit back and not dance along. Your body, mind, and spirit will thank you for just letting go and enjoying a moment. I need to take this advice.
• In addition, you could add exercise to this as well. I find that it isn’t easy or fun to get up and exercise but I will tell you that I feel it when I sit all day. It makes each day harder to get out of the pit. It makes me sluggish and my back hurt. Just 1-2 dance videos or workout videos a week make such a difference. I’ve joined an adult tap class though and that is better than ANYTHING else exercise based that I could do. It brings me so much joy to perform even for myself in my class, to figure out combinations, and to move to that music.

6. Find a craft/hobby

• Giving my hands something to do has been very therapeutic to me. I will say though, I tend to be a lot more productive when I have a reason for making something. Especially if I’m making something for someone else. I don’t do as well with just making something to make it. That’s probably very effective for others, but I’d just as well not do it if it’s just busy work. So after the holidays, I have found myself not making as many things and it can feel daunting to get my project out and work on it. However, knowing I have something to do and doing something productive can really help me when I just can’t seem to find that positivity. It’s great to see something made out of nothing. It brings me even greater joy to give that thing to someone else.

7. Don’t watch the news

• Seriously I can’t stress this enough. I just can’t even with media or the news anymore. I’ll tell ya, I never watch the news.. but I do have 1 newspaper that sends me the highlights in my email should I choose to read it. So I still know what is going on, if I need to know what it is going on. However, the news can really bog you down. They don’t write about positive things and productive things, they write about the horrible things going on around the world and derail us with uncertainty and fear. If there’s anything that has really helped me these past two years, it has been limiting my news exposure. You’ll hear about the really important things, trust me.

8. Limit Social Media

• This has been such a helpful tip. I did not fully delete my accounts, I’ll be honest. Mostly because I wanted to be able to connect with you, but also I wanted to be able to check on the people I care about who I know don’t always have the capacity to reach out to spend time with me or fill me in. Also, I like hearing about what people are going through so I can pray for them. However, I can absolutely feel myself draining and falling more into my anxiety and negative feelings when I mindlessly scroll through. It can also launch us into automatically comparing ourselves to others. We can be perfectly content and happy in our lives and then we see something someone else is doing and instantly we feel crappy. It makes no sense because God has a perfect season for each of us and comparing only brings us down. Plus, people really only share the happy “postable” content so you’re never truly seeing someone else’s realities. What has helped me is turning my notifications for the social media apps off. This way, I’m less drawn to opening the app because I don’t have the red one prompting me constantly.

9. Spend time with pets

• I absolutely love my cat and dog. They give me so much life and you can read my post on them to hear all about how life-giving they are and how I absolutely believe they were sent by God into my life. I just don’t know how I would get by in this life sometimes without them. Even with my amazing husband and all that I have in my life and my faith, my pets get me through some tough times. They’re a physical manifestation of God’s love, in my opinion.

10. Give yourself some grace.

• Grace comes right from God. He gives us grace each and everyday because he knows how frequently we fall short on our own. We also are fully aware of our own short-comings. It’s never a secret. People often look at us and think they have us all figured out and misjudge us or even tell us where we can improve, even if it’s indirectly. Please try to ignore them and allow yourself to have grace. You are doing the best you can in this life. Don’t feel guilty, don’t be hard on yourself, tell yourself life-giving things. Talk to yourself like you talk to your close friends and family and pets. Be kind to you. You have this one life and you’re doing the best you’re able today. Each day brings different things. God’s mercy is new every morning and we can thank Him for that because I’ll tell ya, there are some days that I NEVER want to re-live. Good news is, I don’t have to and I can move ahead, look to the future, heal, and grow as much or as little as I need to. Best news is Jesus is with us each day, in every journey, He never leaves, and even when our whole day is the couch and the TV, he is there. Have grace for yourself, you are wonderful.