Getting Through It

-By Jaime Willis

When you start to feel . . . do. For example – when you start to feel scared because you don’t have enough money….find someone to give a little money to. When you start to feel like you don’t have enough love. . . find someone to offer love. When you feel unappreciated, unacknowledged . . . appreciate and acknowledge someone in your life in a concrete way. When you feel unlucky, order yourself to consider a blessing or two. And then find a tangible way to make today somebody else’s lucky day. This strategy helps me sidestep wallowing every day. -Momastery.blogspot.com

Sometimes, life is just tough. Getting through the day is hard, much less trying to accomplish anything productive during the day. Here are some tips on how to get through a low period and keep on pursuing your dreams.

1) Have perspective. Pain, even the worst type of pain, subsides over time. Your troubles are temporary. Some day in the not too distant future, you *will* be doing better. Remember that what you are going through now is not forever.

2) Follow Momastery's lead: when you are feeling down, help someone else. It may not solve your problem, but being able to feel useful, helpful, or loved in any capacity can give you the "juice" and energy to work on your own troubles.

3) Phone a friend. Whatever you are going through, you are not the only one. Learn from someone else's experience, commiserate with them, or just be heard.

4) Seek professional help. Sometimes, the problems we face are not solvable on our own. Substance abuse, for example, is almost never something you can 'fix' by yourself. Find the right support for your problem, whether it be medical professionals, counselors, coaches, business advisors, or mentors.

5) Tough times build our character. It takes rain to make a rainbow, and you may need this experience to really appreciate the reward that comes later.

Good Luck! You CAN do it!

Cheer Leaders

- by Jaime Willis

I've spent the past several days in a drooling stupor as I recovered from my tonsillectomy (not as bad as everyone says, honestly). Anyways, in my recovery, I had a chance to catch up on my internet blog-reading and even discover a few new blogs. I want to share part of a great post made by Zan McQuade (btw, best name ever, right?) in her blog www.thatcupoftea.com.

"Sunday was the New York marathon. I'm not an athlete; I get winded just briskly walking the mile to the racecourse to cheer on my friends. But there's something inspiring about watching people accomplish that thing they've wanted to do for years, that thing they've trained for and anticipated for months. That thing that to complete requires some sort of superhuman PUSH, determination like no other...

I don't know the psychology involved, but I've heard from various marathoners that it helps to hear people just call out their name as a bit of encouragement. Something in me tells me that if I were doing something particularly difficult, and someone shouted "way to go Zan!" I'd feel bolstered. Or at least pretend to be. So I started shouting out the names of strangers.

Who knows if it was me, but I counted at least three of these strangers who were walking by the time they hit 108th street, who heard my ridiculous clap, my lone "you can do it!", looked at me, and their expression changed from the dead despair of defeated men to the inspired confidence of runners. And they would start running."

But it isn't just marathon runners that need the encouragement, is it? We all need a little push forward sometimes. We would all do better if someone was clapping and cheering us on, wouldn't we?

While I sat there last night wishing I had my own tonsillectomy Cheer Section - "Way to Rest, Jaime!" "Keep up the good napping!" - I thought that I would take the time to cheer on a few others in their own personal quests.

"WAY TO GO JACKY!" My friend Jacky is ordering a new dishwasher by herself in Italian (she moved to Italy several months ago with no Italian language skills) --way to go outside your comfort zone!

"KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK RACHEL!" My friend Rachel is helping to get out the vote for a non-profit childhood obesity project.

"YOU CAN DO IT TAYLOR!" Taylor has started her own landscaping company in New Orleans!

"AWESOME JOB, REDDIT!" The readers of Reddit have done some amazing and inspiring things for each other!

"YOU'LL GET THROUGH IT!" Storm of Paul and Storm's guitar was stolen from Chicago's O'Hare Airport last night. He is astounded by the feedback and offers of assistance through Twitter.

Join me in being a Cheer Leader -- find at least one person in your life that you can encourage today and share with us in the comments.