13 Awesome Tips for How To Stay Positive During Difficult Times

Life is unpredictable and rarely goes as planned. So it’s essential to understand how to stay positive during difficult times. Lately, it feels as though the world is in exhaustive unrest. It’s nearly impossible to escape the weight of being continuously bombarded with negative news stories. So it creates a need for staying positive in hard times.

This article seeks to help you stay optimistic; when bad things you can’t control are going on. Sometimes we try super hard to remain positive, but hard times influence negative thinking. These 13 tips serve to help get you through hard times in a healthy way.

How to Stay Positive During Difficult Times By Practicing Positive Psychology

According to Harvard Medical, people are staying positive during challenging times by using techniques from positive psychology. Three positive psychology approaches include practicing gratitude, sharing kindness, and being more mindful.

1. Practice Gratitude

What does practicing gratitude look like for you? I started with The One-Minute Gratitude Journal, but have evolved into incorporating gratitude practices into yoga and my prayer journal. End your yoga sessions by giving thanks to the Lord. By expressing two or more things that you are grateful for each day.

You can express gratitude for anything from a financial blessing to a delicious grilled cheese sandwich. So give thanks for any energies that bring you joy. Starting your day with a gracious heart sets your day up for success. Naturally, not every day will go smoothly. But your attitude and mindset will be prepared to handle life’s inevitable curveballs.

2. Share Kindness

Did you know that people who volunteer their time and services are happier than those who don’t? So ask yourself, in what ways can I volunteer? Of course, you can always find someone in a bad situation; unfortunately, you won’t have to look hard. These are tough times for many families and individuals. Is there a way you can be of service to them? Take the first step and initiate gifting your time and assistance. 

3. Be More Mindful

Mindfulness is the act of focusing your attention on the present time and living within that moment—free of judgment and self-ridicule. Some medical research about mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and health benefits suggested that MBSR may help diversified populations deal with clinical and non-clinical issues.

However, the study is not definitive. Furthermore, another study showed that mindfulness is good for your heart. The findings concluded that it lowers both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Additionally, being mindful may improve your immune system and help reduce psychological pain.

How to Stay Positive During Difficult Times By Practicing Self-Care

Consistent self-care creates a positive attitude that significantly reflects your mental health status. Many people feel much better when they find the proper self-care to fit their needs. So what does self-care look like for you? Here are a few acts of self-care to improve or keep mental health happier. 

4. Turn Off the News

I’m serious; turn off the news. You don’t need negative news stories flooding your space. No one can handle the constant oppression. So, to remain positive during difficult times, it’s important to focus only on what you can control. And nothing is happening that you have any legitimate control over.

So why carry the weight of the world on your shoulders? Watching news networks has been linked to physical and mental health illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, heart disease, digestion issues, and headaches. Weight gain and memory and concentration impairment are other linked ailments.

If a world event occurs and you need to know about it, you’ll get an alert because you can never escape it entirely. So please turn it off and leave it off. Read a good book instead.

5. Set Boundaries

First and foremost, set boundaries and enforce them. Learn to say no. Cut off negative influences and toxic relationships. If there is one thing I wish I would have learned sooner in life, it’s to let go of unhealthy people. Trust me. Those people are not going to change and be better. If they do, fantastic, but that doesn’t mean you have to suffer their shit show until they figure it out.

“So, you can love them, forgive them, and want good things for them but still move on without them.” – Mandy Hale

Absolutely. Read that over and over again until it sticks. Do you know your self-worth? Well, do you? What does setting boundaries look like for you? Are there any people whom you need to establish boundaries with right now? If you need to, make a list and acknowledge your self-worth by demonstrating emotional resilience and strength.

6. Take a Social Media Hiatus

Constantly scrolling social networks creates a false sense of the real world. But fortunately, freeing your mind and time from the negative impacts of social media will liberate you. When I took a year away from my social feeds, I experienced increased positivity and productivity. It’s much easier to stay optimistic when you remove negative news and people from your life, and there are always unfavorable people in the feeds.

So deactivate those accounts and delete the apps from your phone. Trust me. You’ll be amazed at how much negativity is gone. You might find yourself never going back. 

7. Develop a Positive Mindset

Staying positive during difficult times is easier when you shift to a positive mindset. So how do you adopt this healthy, feel-good change? Start by committing to three ways of staying positive and overcoming negative thoughts. 

Some ways include starting a gratitude journal, spending time with positive people, and practicing positive self-talk. Alternatively, you can say daily affirmations to keep the negativity away.

8. Start Your Day Off Right

What sets your mood to fantastic every time? Is there a song that will get you up and moving? Play it. Start your day off right by getting enough sleep and committing to something important such as eating a healthy breakfast or making your bed every day. There are no limits.

Also, stop hitting the snooze button. It repeatedly disorients your body and makes drowsiness and grogginess worse. Sleeping with a sound machine or night-time meditations is an encouraging way to get enough sleep.

Popular Reading – 50 Positive Thoughts to Start Your Day off Right

How to Stay Positive During Difficult Times By Taking Care of Your Body

Do you want to know how to stay positive in difficult times? First, take care of your body. Nothing is worse than adding aches and pains on top of hard times. Additionally, fueling your body with proper nutrition and boosting natural feel-good endorphins make you feel happy.

9. Eat a Healthier Diet

Do you realize that the foods you impact your health? Unfortunately, the standard American diet devastates physical and psychological health. For instance, studies comparing a typical Western diet to the Mediterranean Diet found that the risk of depression is 25% to 35% lower in those who eat the Mediterranean diet.

Part of this reality is that you will feel like garbage if you fill up on refined sugars and processed foods. And unfortunately, those are staples of the American diet. Hopefully, recognizing this truth will help you make better food choices. A good rule of thumb is to add as many colors to your plate as possible.

10. Exercise More

Similarly, get more exercise, and you’re going to feel better. It’s science. Yoga is a fantastic warm-up to working out because it stretches your body. However, the body desires more than those ten minutes. Experts recommend getting at least 30 minutes each day. So how do you achieve this while remaining optimistic? Especially if fitness is a new concept for you?

Discover routines that are fun for you! For example, do you enjoy dancing or playing video games? Combine those activities with dance exercise games, and personalize your workout experience. When quarantine shut down the gyms, I invested in a couple of exercise machines to help me; how to stay positive during these difficult times.

My favorite is my SideShaper Pro. After only five minutes a day, it feels like I’ve done a thousand crunches, and it’s rewarding to experience the machine working right away. Make things fun so that you continue to follow through.

How to Stay Positive During Difficult Times By Spending Time With God

Finding ways to spend time with God is central to staying positive during difficult times. Do you have a relationship with a higher power? If not, you will still benefit from meditation and being in nature. I’d wager that prayer will bring you comfort if you’re ready to experience it? A great beginner practice is praying for a loved one.

11. Say Your Prayers

Talk to God and ask for the things you want to see come to fruition in your life. Communicate your worries and concerns, and seek God’s guidance on the matters. You can pray in the morning, before bed, while driving, or in the shower.

There is no right or wrong place to say prayers. However, if speaking aloud feels weird or getting on your knees is too formal, commit to keeping a prayer journal. I’ve experienced excellent benefits in recovery with prayer journaling. Such as focused prayer, consistent prayer, and afterward reflections.

One of the most significant benefits of prayer journaling is looking back and reading about where God has blessed you and how far you’ve come and grown in life. So I encourage you to seek those benefits too.

Additionally, asking for God’s intervention during dark times to improve things is a welcomed practice. You can pray about anything from financial problems to protecting your loved ones. Many people feel better after communicating through prayer.

12. Meditation

Another way to connect with God is through meditation practices. Discovering the ability to quiet your mind is a life-changing skill self-transcending meditation is good for your mental health. Meditation is an excellent tool for achieving mindfulness and being focused on the present time. For example, find a comfortable space and commit to two minutes of breath concentration.

Then, focus on inhaling and exhaling while quieting your mind from anything else. How did that feel? Was it a little uncomfortable and maybe more complicated than you imagined? That’s a natural reaction to positive changes. So stay optimistic and educate yourself about meditation for beginners. You can experience a closer connection to yourself and God.

13. Spend Time With Nature

Another incredible way to connect with God is to marvel at the creation. Get into nature. There is a multitude of reasons that nature is the answer. For example, the fresh air, soothing sounds, and it’s a technology-free zone. I RETURN WITH LESS STRESS AND ANXIETY whenever I visit the ocean or drive into the mountains. It’s tremendous for boosting mental health.

Additionally, nature can calm anger and fear and reduce blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle tension. Do you have a special place in nature that rejuvenates your soul? Please find one.

Do you have any suggestions for how to stay positive during difficult times? Please let us know in the comments below. Also, will you hit that social share button and spread the love? Thanks, those always make me feel good.