How Can We Cope With Despair?
How can we define despair? We could say that it is hopelessness, a feeling of inner emptiness, the idea that there is nothing left. It’s like the feeling of being in the desert, and all our efforts are in vain. How could we face the fact that we lack the strength to move forward? How can we cope with despair?
When this knowledge conquers us, when we begin to doubt, why should we continue to strive? Why do we still get out of bed every morning? People who suffer from this feeling feel unable to do their job. They will not survive their date or will not be able to fulfill their responsibilities. Perhaps the best solution would be to give up and stop suffering.
In this way, despair can become one of our worst enemies, as it puts a blindfold on our eyes, and removes our strength and hope. It doesn’t let us see over the wall, keeping us in the dark.
It whispers to our ears that nothing is going to happen. It whispers that nothing gets better, that everything is over, and that we have to end life like this. How can we properly cope with despair?
Despair must be fought with patience; with little work but great effort, small steps, and small achievements. The good people alongside us are helping us out of this trap and they are making us see that there are still great things in life that we have to fight for.
Despair, our worst enemy
When despair overwhelms us, the worst thing we can do is be kind to this uninvited guest. This guest came in, but our solution is to be wise and kick it out as soon as possible. Despair is intelligent, and it feels our fears, it attacks us, and our fears increase it. So if we learn to control our fears, there is no place for despair and it will eventually go away.
In this sense, managing emotions really helps us cope with despair. There are a variety of tools for this. Some of them can break the spirals of negative thoughts. Others can make us socially and intelligently adept at choosing different strategies.
Maybe we can’t see beyond what we have now: when we’re in the dark, it’s hard to see the light on the other side. However, let’s not forget that we ourselves can become really powerful light sources as long as we find our light switch. Despair always disappears from those people who own the resources to organize their state of mind.
Our best weapon against despair is our desire to live
This is the most important thing: we are more than our current situation. We have experienced tough situations, and we have managed to get over them. We have been able to achieve really valuable goals. Above all, we are our own faith – let’s not forget this.
Our mind works with what happens to us, but it works even more with what it thinks is happening. More than what we think we are, in reality we are more than what we believe or what we want to believe.
We have experienced really awkward situations in the past, but we have always overcome them. In addition to this, they give us the resources to make us strong. In our immediate future, we have the opportunity to continue living. For the distant future, we can make plans. Dreams are incredibly powerful.
This approach, so simple and easy to follow, is difficult to maintain because of our fears and times of misfortune. But it doesn’t stop being worth it.
We remind ourselves of people who haven’t left us even in difficult times, even when we know we haven’t been the most pleasant company. If they have believed in us, why not give ourselves a chance?
Let’s say this in a different way: despair is always an illusion. Impossibility: a place where we are blind to all the options that could help us find a way out. However, it escapes when we are brave in the face of fear, and when we are confident in the face of anxiety.
