It is a universal truth that everyone goes through tough times in life. And it is not just once, but these ups and downs keep happening. Most of the times, we are able to handle success. But failure? How do we manage ourselves when going gets tough. You must’ve heard of the saying, “When going gets tough, the tough get going”. I have always thought it is easier said than done. So, how about we follow some powerful ‘rules’ in life to deal with difficult times. Following statements are what you should say to yourself in such situations. These statements are about reframing the seemingly negative situation to see the positives and hence be in the right state of mind to face the challenges:

1. “If I can come out of this successfully, then I will be much more empowered and stronger” – This is in fact true and you may have experienced this in your life. You may have said to yourself that something is impossible to do, or that you will surely fail. But you have proved yourself wrong multiple times and have come out successful. And after that, you have found yourself to be stronger and much more resourceful.
2. “If things are too easy, life would be too dull” – Ask yourself this question. What if we are only happy in life? And no other emotion. The fact is, we wouldn’t value happiness. Take life as an adventure, like a game. In fact it is a game if you look at the big picture. Life is like a roller coaster. It has its ups and downs. But it’s your choice to scream or to enjoy the ride.
3. “Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react to it” – Whenever things are not working for you, the reflex-action question you should ask yourself, “What am I going to do about it”? Swing into action, take decisions and change things for yourself. Be at the ‘cause’ end of the equation. Remember, when things don’t work for you, you don’t feel very good. It is the brain’s way of telling you that you need to do something about something which is not yet done. Hence, you may not have control over what happens to you, but you definitely have the power to change things.
4. “After going through this, and being successful, I will make myself proud which I will cherish in the future” – We are all nostalgic and value our achievements from the past. We relive them and feel good. Maybe you can sow seeds of pride for the future.
5. “When I wake up tomorrow morning, things would be different” – Well, may not be immediately next morning, but definitely the difficult phase would pass. Of course, you need to do something about it and then things change. But I’m sure, you will realise there are good times and bad times. These phases come and go. Change is always constant. If you make this your universal truth, you would be less hassled in life.
6. “Look back and remember how you went through those difficult times. This time would just be the same. No. this time would be even better” – When you have your first child, you learn things the hard way. But when you have your second child, things are easier because you’ve had learnt lot of things from experience. This is true in all contexts. With experience, our capability to deal with complications becomes better.

These reframes help get a better perspective of life, especially in difficult times. The underlying truth remains that only these affirmations will not work, they have to be backed up with action and decisions to change. Hope these help you in your life.