What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do

When life gets to be too heavy to cope with, or too burdensome to navigate through each day, it’s natural to turn to something familiar. Whether that something familiar is healthy or not, is secondary to its actual purpose: giving you an escape. Many of us watch movies to escape for a couple of hours, or binge on our favorite shows. Other outlets of escape may be exercising, going for long walks, playing musical instruments, painting, shopping, eating, drinking, sleeping … the list is truly endless. While there are many healthy and life-benefiting options to escape and work through challenges, there are also some not so healthy ones, like alcoholism, drugs and prescription drugs.

When you find yourself leaning into one of the less healthy outlets, there are some steps you can take to steer your life back in the right direction. 

1. Pause. There’s nothing you need to do in this step, other than pause what you are doing, and breathe. Some call it meditation, some call it prayer, some call it taking a break. Whatever your chosen terminology, just get still and let your energy reset. 

2. Journal. Many people carry a pen and journal/notebook/diary/notepad at all times. When there’s something beautiful to sketch, thoughts and lists that need to be written in the moment, or stressful and overwhelming thoughts and feelings, a good mantra for life is: let the paper hold onto it for you.

3. Consider getting external help, if the above strategies aren’t enough. There are options like therapists and psychiatrists, as well as treatment centers for options to get help and other similarly beautiful locations. Tons of places exist to help put structure, skill and accountability into place when life becomes too overwhelming. People from all walks of life have benefited greatly from such places.

No matter your struggle, there are always friends, relatives and professionals ready to help you through your journey, if you need external support. Most days, taking pause and journalist or talking through what you’re feeling and experiencing might be just what you need in order to process your feelings. Other times, a bit more help might be the best option.