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When You're Down and Out

Don't drag your feet in the rubble of what was there before

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When You're Down and Out
Mark Soriano

Sometimes it's easy to be put into a place where all of your life crumbles on top you, burying you from the aid of your closest allies. Even more so, it's easy to go into a self-imposed exile, locking yourself away from other faces so you can try to sort the chaos out yourself. It doesn't matter what work you are assigned to do or what events you have to prepare for, time doesn't wait for you to find your footing and will move on regardless of your feelings about it. No matter how strong something is or how strong it seems to be, one push can see it's infrastructure crack, removing time off its lifespan. Yet, when everything falls apart, and things will, there is always something that can be done to hold yourself together.

1. Ease your Grip

Sadness can be an overwhelming thing and is perpetuated by things that are either in your life or things that are not. We all have that person or that thing that we love which unfortunately had to exit our life for whatever reason and more things may join it. The important thing to think about is whether it is worth fighting for: Do I need this? What is this doing for my life? Am I alright without it? Sometimes the only way to really hold yourself together is to release your grip on those things that have made you happy before but now only tear away at your mind. It isn't easy, but, to speak with the truest of cliches, life isn't easy and anything worth fighting for isn't easy.

2. Pick Yourself Up

Sometimes it feels like all you can do is run, and sometimes it's not a bad idea to follow that impulse. Now I don't recommend straying off to another city/country to start anew every time things go wrong, but getting away from the darkness of the place where things are so troubling can help you see the beauty of it once you return. You don't need to go far, just pick up your body and place it somewhere else. Act as your own personal chauffeur and take yourself outside of what's comfortable. If you don't have a car, find a bus, find a bicycle, or find a sidewalk to travel on. You never know what you might find: a new favorite restaurant, a beautiful soul to talk to, a new song to serenade your mood anew (Bruce Springsteen is great for just that). Get out of your bedroom, search for what lives outside of it and a lot of what feels destroyed can start mending or you can remove it from your life.

3. Come Back and Keep Going

Once you've gone exploring and you ultimately find yourself back to where you started to explore the things you might've missed here when you held a darker perspective. The only thing constant in life is change and as time goes on you fall into that constant. Don't drag your feet in the rubble of what was there before; Keep going, keep your mind/body moving and things will get better. Sometimes sadness will catch up to you, but staying still just so it can is destructive and pointless.



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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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