With everything going on in our lives & in the world, many us are feeling a sense of hopelessness. This is not only true of adults; it’s also true for children.
What is Hopelessness?
Hopelessness is an emotion or a state of being where you may feel like there’s little to no hope, optimism or excitement in your life.
I’ve been asked the following questions quite a bit: What do you do when things get challenging or when you’re faced with difficult times? How do you get out of feeling like there’s no hope?
Now this is not a one size fits all situation. I’ve been through my own hell & back several times over. You may have heard me talk about my own trauma in past videos or my work with anxiety & so forth.
I’ll tell you what I do during these times & teach my children, but when you teach your children, you know them best, so you’ll take this & adapt it to suit their needs & your own if you need this in your life right now.
Actionable Steps:
#1. Take Action
When life was really difficult at one point, I made it a point to choose one SMALL task that I could work on every day to get my head on straight. Do you want to know what it was? Doing the dishes. That’s it. Simple! So, step one, is to pick 1 thing that you can do & make it a habit by doing it every single day.
The following week, I’d like to you add another task, but this time, keep it focused. What do I mean? What’s making you feel this way? Did you lose your job? Maybe you need to spend time working on your resume. Did you fail a test? Then you need to study for the re-test or the final exam by going over it again. How are you going to do this? You’re going to slot it at least 15 minutes every day to work on it. Notice how I only said 15 minutes & not 30 minutes or an hour? It’s because 15 minutes is a smaller chunk of time, so it’s easier to get to the task & then reward yourself right after. In this way, you’re making progress every single day without feeling overwhelmed.
If you’re struggling with something that’s much bigger than this, like the loss of someone, then your daily action that day, may be to just get up & brush your teeth or call someone.
These tasks don’t have to be big. In fact, I encourage you & your children to take small actionable steps but be consistent…. So do it every single day. When you’re ready (preferably in a week if not sooner), add another task. This will keep you going instead of stuck in this never-ending cycle of feeling hopeless.
#2. Remember The Good
Sit with the negativity for a short time because you need to feel it or it won’t leave you alone. Then, remember the good. I’m sure there’ve been some good times in your life. Focus on that. Remember them & know that you’ll experience those good times again, but you need to get up & move by taking action as I mentioned above in order to enjoy those times again.
#3. Look For The Lesson
I believe that when we are faced with difficult times, such as feeling hopeless, we’re being taught a lesson. So, once you’ve felt the emotion, taken action, & gained some momentum, my friend, it’s time to ask, “What’s the lesson that I need to learn in this situation? Why am I feeling this sense of hopelessness?” Take some time to reflect in quiet or to soft instrumental music. Find the lesson, because if you stay in a state of being a victim indefinitely, & ignore this step, you’ll find yourself dealing with a similar situation again & again until you face it, learn from it & MAKE THE NECESSARY CHANGES.
Recap:
- We defined hopelessness.
- We came up with 3 actionable steps:
- We talked about taking action (start with 1 small task & make it a habit & add to it on a weekly basis).
- Remember the good times in your life because it was once there. This will pass & the good will shine through again.
- Look for the lesson in this difficult time & understand why you’re feeling this sense of hopelessness so that you don’t fall victim to it being a never-ending cycle for you.
This is possible, my friend.
Next Steps:
If you’re having a difficult time with this, ask for help. You can also join the waitlist The Creative Child Community to go into more details & take action about topics like this. Click the image below to be the first to be notified of our next opening.
In the meantime, if you’re an intermediate homeschooling parent or teacher and would like to join our FREE Facebook group, click the image below.
If you found this video beneficial, would you do me a favour? Share this with your family, your friends, your loved ones, your co-workers or someone who you think could benefit from this. Thank you!
Until I see you next time, remember to create, experience & teach from the heart.
Take care,
Charlotte
