Category Archives: Obstacles

Sunday thoughts

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Full disclosure and I am sorry in advance. I know I am mentioned the following statement multiple times over the years, but it still stands to be true, and I feel is worth repeating. Although life can be complicated and exhausting at times, life is short. No matter what we go through or how overwhelmed we feel, we should never give up and must do what brings us the most joy. We do not need to explain ourselves to anyone because this is our life. Other people may not agree with how we live our life or any of the decisions we make, but no one needs to understand why we made certain decisions. As long as we are not causing harm to anyone else, it should not matter how we are living our lives. 

Over the past several years and the first days of knowing what COVID was, and the damning effects it inflicted, many have been stressed and scared. These feelings are normal because COVID has killed so many. I am sure everyone has heard another strain that is more contagious making its way through the world. The new strain BA.5 has caused illness in people that have been vaccinated and boosted, which has been upsetting. However, we all must keep our vaccinations current because, without them, the chances of survival decrease significantly. It does seem as though anytime we think we have seen the last of COVID, something new appears.

I do understand that many people were hesitant about the COVID vaccine when we were first introduced to it, and many refused to get the vaccine because it was so new. We are all entitled to our opinions, but if we look at how many unvaccinated people have died when they got COVID to the number of vaccinated people that had a breakthrough infection and survived, it seems like an easy and logical decision. Scientists have stated that those who get the newest strain of COVID that are vaccinated have experienced less severe symptoms and heal faster than those who are unvaccinated. Recently, a friend of mine got sick with COVID. She has an underlying condition and was double vaccinated and had the booster, she has made a full recovery but might not have if she was not vaccinated. I think the decision to be vaccinated or not is a gamble with our lives and I am not a gambler!

Another issue everyone around the world is experiencing is the unbearable heat! Yesterday I had to go out to do a few things, which I normally do not have to do. The heat was so awful that walking from my front door to the truck caused more dizziness and irritation. Do you wonder why the heat is so out of control? Is there any doubt that global warming is real? The healthiest people in the world cannot tolerate this heat, so for anyone who battles with health issues, it can feel like their life is being sucked out of them. Extreme temperatures have always caused me additional problems with my Multiple Sclerosis, but the extreme heat is making things 100 times more intense. I told my husband yesterday that I am not leaving the house during the day anymore until at least November. I did look ahead at what the weather was going to be like next week and it looks as though more miserable days with heat are coming!

What are some of the most important things in your life? Do you think anyone should have to explain why they love who they love? Does it seem like there is too much hatred filling this world? I am unable to understand hate and I do not think I ever will understand it because, in my opinion, we are all human and deserve to be treated fairly and with compassion. We will never know what someone else is going through in life unless we try. Sometimes a person will have an unpleasant attitude because they are struggling with something in their life, but it is possible they just need someone to understand and offer them love. Do you ever think that being kind to another person might have a HUGE impact on their life and make a difference? I do without a doubt!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you are having a good weekend and staying safe. I am looking forward to reading your comments and hope that you have enjoyed this post. I will respond to all comments as quickly as I can. It is a little sad the weekend is becoming to an end soon and we will be getting ready for another long week, but if we view each week as an opportunity, it might make it a little easier😊! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

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Life is a Cycle

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It never matters what goes on, life keeps moving on whether we are ready or not. It seems like life is on an endless cycle of time. Life will keep going even when we are suffering from some type of challenge or hardship. The crazy thing is, that we are strong enough to handle it all, even when we cannot see the strength within ourselves. We did not ask for it, but the day we were born was a gift and we can decide what we do with this gift.

Although I know we all appreciate our lives, I am sure there are things you wish you could change. One thing that never stops is, that bills come at the same time every single month. Of course, we work to survive, pay bills, and enjoy life, but the darn bills get old! It would be nice if just once the bills would not come in. It seems like some, especially the power bill increases every month! I am sure the power bill increase has something to do with the insane heat! I am not sure about you, but I cannot deal with the heat.

I can still remember a time when there were four different and unique seasons. Unfortunately, now it seems like spring and summer became one where temperatures are just HOT. Then autumn and winter have become one of the same where you can hardly tell the difference between the two. Spring used to be tolerable temperatures. Autumn used to be a beautiful season with the leaves changing colors and temperatures getting cooler. During the winter months, the ground was covered with powdery snow that glistened. Summer has always been hot, but now it is too hot to survive.

Is there anything you wish you could change about life? Yes, life can be beautiful and exciting, but there can be improvements with everything. The two things I wish I had the power to change are the insane temperatures and the bills that will not stop coming. Logically, I know there is nothing I can do to change these things, but it would be great if I did. I am not trying to complain because I know complaining does not change anything, I am just venting😊!

We are already almost at the end of June, so we have almost made it through half of the year. How are your week and year going? What do you want for next month or next year? Dreams and hopes should never leave our hearts because they are meaningful😊! I know the past few years have been a struggle, but we have survived, and we are stronger because of everything we have gone through. Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves how incredible we are and how much courage we all have!

Thank you for visiting my site today! I hope you are doing well and having a great week! I am looking forward to reading your comments and I will respond as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Multiple Sclerosis Pain

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Each person that lives with Multiple Sclerosis will have a unique journey, as this illness impacts everyone differently. I believe this is one reason why it is often referred to as the “snowflake” disease. The symptoms are vastly different from person to person, and we all handle the symptoms in our way. Of course, each symptom is frustrating, but some can be much easier to tolerate or even get used to. 

For over twenty years, I have battled with Multiple Sclerosis. When I was diagnosed, I was young and did not have extensive knowledge regarding the disease I would be forced to live with for the rest of my life. I was terrified, angry, sad, confused, and everything in between with the diagnosis because of what I did know about MS. I knew MS did not have a cure and it could be extremely unpredictable and there was a possibility to become disabled. Given my age, I was naïve and could not see any hope for my future, which made acceptance almost impossible.

Over the last two decades, I have experienced many different symptoms that had a variety of challenges. For instance, the first and only symptom I had was optic neuritis. This is commonly one of the first symptoms of MS. Optic Neuritis is a temporary problem. When the optic nerve is inflamed it can cause pain and partial or complete vision loss. Typically, this issue gets better on its own, but some cases require steroid medication to reduce the inflammation. 

During the early years after being diagnosed, I went through several frustrating days. Accepting the doctor’s diagnosis was painful and emotionally draining. Every appointment would start with me being argumentative and dismissive of anything the doctor said but would then end in tears. I could not fathom why I had this condition or why my life had to be altered so drastically and at a very young age. The truth is, I have always been a strong-willed person who could take care of herself without any help! I’ve never wanted to rely on anyone for help and was scared I would have to at some point in my life. 

The other frustrating part was deciding on a medication to slow down the progression of the disease. Back then my choices were limited to injections. I have never had an issue with needles but did not think there would be a way to give myself a shot. Even though I hated the options offered, I decided to try one that was three times a day. Unfortunately, after successfully giving myself a shot Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a few months, the miserable side effects became too much for me to handle and I started slacking the medication, which made things worst. My first Neurologist was a sweet elderly man who has patience for days. He knew my fears, so to convince me to decide on another medication, he used my fears against me. It was a ruthless way of forcing someone to decide, but it did work. 

Of the various symptoms involved with MS, I did not suffer from pain in my early years. Unfortunately, during the past ten or so years, my pain issues have become increasingly more problematic. There has not been even a second, I have not experienced at least one form of pain. Considering it has been going on for so many years, there is a HUGE part of me that expects it and I can manage. Before I had MS, there were many types of pain I did not know existed. 

Through the rest of this post I am going to explain the different types of pain I deal with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without a break in between. The reason I am doing this today is that my pain levels have become more intense and now in addition to all the other pains, my right shoulder and arm hurt so bad I can barely move my arm. I know my pain has become worst because of the incredible amount of stress I am under, which I am assuming is why my right shoulder hurts too. 

Although everyone has a different experience with MS, pain is a common symptom. Pain affects approximately two-thirds of people with MS worldwide and can impact their daily activities such as work and recreation, moods, and the ability to enjoy life. Most pain is a direct result of MS and is caused by damage to the nerves in the central nervous system. There are other forms of pain due to changes in the body due to MS, which could include experiencing weakness in your arms and legs, which forces you to walk differently causing pain in the back and hips. 

Neuropathic pain stems directly from damage to the nerves in MS. Pain from weakness, stiffness, or other mobility challenges is thought to be Musculoskeletal pain. Neuropathic and musculoskeletal pain can be acute with a rapid onset and short duration or chronic, which starts gradually and stays persistent. 

Neuropathic pain is miserable and, in my experience, not much helps ease the pain. This occurs due to “short-circuiting” of the nerves which carry signals from the brain to the body because of damage from MS. The pain sensation feels like burning, stabbing, sharp, and squeezing. The best way for me to describe this is, that it feels like spiders are having a constant dance party on my legs and feet. Neuropathic pain can be acute and chronic. 

FOUR TYPES OF ACUTE NEUROPATHIC PAIN

Trigeminal Neuralgia- stabbing pain in the face or jaw area. This can be misinterpreted as dental pain. Most often it is unpredictable, so we do not know when it will occur, but it does come and go.

Lhermitte’s Sign- is a brief stabling, electric-shock sensation that runs from the back of the head down the spine and possibly into the arms and legs. This can manifest by bending the neck forward. It typically means there is or has been damaged to the cervical spine from MS.

MS Hug- is a squeezing sensation around the torse. This feels like a snake is wrapped around your body and refuses to let go until it takes the breath out of you. An MS hug is the kind of hug no one wants and is an invasion of personal space!

Paroxysmal Spasms- is a periodic and painful tightening of muscles. For instance, this can happen in your arm or leg several times throughout the day and night.

Chronic neuropathic pain is normally the continuance of acute pain. This is unpredictable and may be experienced daily. Several issues can increase the likelihood to experience this pain, such as stress, fatigue, illnesses, and becoming overheated. 

Musculoskeletal pain with MS occurs because of weakness, stiffness or coordination struggles that change your walking or other mobility. This is often seen in the hips, legs, arms, and normally when muscles, tendons, and ligaments are immobile for a long period of time. 

Headaches and migraines are other common symptoms of MS. Although I deal with numerous other forms of pain daily, I am unable to tolerate migraines. These put me in the bed with an ice pack for hours and often even when I try to sleep them away, they are still present when I wake up. I have dealt with pain for many years and it never gets easier, but I also know crying or giving up does not fix the issues. I just try to keep pushing forward the best I can. 

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you found what I have shared interesting and that it helps you with anything you are experiencing. I hope you have had a safe and relaxing weekend. I am looking forward to reading your comments, which I will respond to as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Pick-Me-Up Thursday

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Happy Friday Eve! How has your week been? It was not until yesterday, that overtime was offered at work again. I remember how insane it was last week when I said I would work overtime and swore I would not do it again, but I, of course, agreed to work the long 10 hours days again and four hours on Saturday. I am a glutton for punishment, but I am sure it will pay off, or at least that is what I will keep telling myself. The way I view things is, that I work from home and do not do anything else, so why not work for a little extra money?

Thankfully, we have almost survived the week and the weekend is almost here. I am glad the weekend is almost back, even though I am working a few hours on Saturday. After how long the week has already felt, I think we could all use a little pick-me-up and I hope the quote I am sharing provides that to you. Although I think this quote is uplifting and encouraging because it is incredibly true, I would love to know what you think.

Do you have any plans for the weekend? Besides working on Saturday, I do not think anything else is going on. I am 90% sure, my husband works all weekend, but things change with his job randomly. I hope work on Saturday is not too terribly, but things happen and it will all be okay. Life happens and things can be unpleasant, but I believe the outcome is all in the way we handle it. We all have a choice in how we approach different situations.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope your week has been wonderful and the final day is even better. I am looking forward to reading your comments and I will respond as soon as possible. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Let It Go Friday

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Happy Friday y’all! I hope you had a great week and you are looking forward to enjoying the weekend! No matter what you decide to do over the weekend, please be sure to do so safely. I know how frustrating it has been to worry about what could happen with COVID and wearing a mask everywhere we go got old three years ago, but unfortunately, things are still slightly unsafe. We do not know what to expect from the new variant yet, but why play Russian Roulette with our lives? This weekend is my last weekend before I start working again and that makes me extremely happy. Not working is more stressful than working, which sounds crazy, but it is so incredibly true!

The weekends are short and we do not want to spend any of it letting anything that occurred over the week ruin it for us, so today we need to learn to let it all go and enjoy our weekend. Too many people want to portray they have a perfect life, but nothing is perfect in life. Being perfectly imperfect and honest is okay and normal. Of course, accepting our imperfections is not easy but it is necessary and it will get easier the more we try. I guess it is letting go of trying to be perfect when it is not possible.

Sadly, I want to ask y’all to continue keeping Ukraine in your thoughts and prayers. They are still living in fear and that is no one for anyone to live. I am glad to see their leader is standing with them and not going into hiding because he thinks he is better and deserves to be more protected than anyone else. What is happening in this country is disturbing and revolting because they did nothing that is deserving of being attacked. Control may be powerful, but can become too much.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you have enjoyed what I have shared and it helps you let go of any stress caused by the week, so you can enjoy your weekend. Honestly, starting next week when I begin working I probably will not be doing multiple posts, but I will try staying on a schedule. I know I am going to be in training to learn something new and I will hopefully be successful. I would love to read your comments, which I will respond to as soon as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

What is your purpose in life?

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Even though it is not easy we all have a desire to find our purpose in life. Many times, these thoughts are embedded into us from family and our community, but we many do not feel connected to the ideas of others. Some may feel pressured to find a good job, get married, and have children when that is not the way they see their life. Unfortunately, society can play a HUGE part in these views because it is what many view to be “normal”. Everyone has different views as to what “normal” means and there is nothing wrong with that.

The things that some view as achievement can be vastly different for each person. Achievements should bring fulfillment to our life. Our personal sense of purpose does not mean an end goal, but more of an ongoing goal that has an impact. This impact can be big or small and our purpose is the why.c

Our sense of purpose can guide and support us. Though we may encounter setbacks and our world can be turned upside down and inside out, our purpose provides us with stability and direction.c

It is important to discover our purpose in life, but it takes time and determination! This is not something that can be rushed because it needs to be meaningful. Knowing our purpose in life can make life more meaningful. Our purpose contributes to a better life and mental stability. This may also reduce the risks of chronic illness and may help us to live longer.c

Through the rest of this post, I am going to share several ways to find what our purpose in life is. If you already know your purpose, I would love to know what it is, and I will share what I feel mine is.

Establish a growth mindset

When we are constantly growing and becoming better people, it allows us to identify our purpose and stay devoted to pursuing it. This also enables you to view challenges as opportunities, persevere despite failures, and accept constructive criticism.

Devise a personal vision statement

When we have a personal vision statement stored in our mind, it can help to manage stress and discover balance in our life. This can also serve as a guide towards our purpose by determining our values and understanding what is most important. Knowing our purpose in life can make it easier to make decisions that are in line with our values and to remain motivated working towards personal goals.

Transform pain into purpose

Struggles and challenges are inevitable in this life. Our abilities to overcome challenges are what shapes who we are and provide us with uniquely defined strength. The ways we turn our pain into a purpose are solely our choice.

Discover your passions

Our passions and interest are a sign of what areas our purpose in life may be secured in. These are deep-rooted into our way of thinking, almost to the point we are blind to them. Chances are you already know what you are passionate about, but if you are unaware of them consider the things you excel with. You can also bring this into conversation with those that know you best because they may see something you do not see clearly.

Become part of a cause

Everyone has a cause they feel drawn to and passionate about. You may have strong feelings about social justice, animal rescue, child advocacy, cures for certain illnesses, or the environment. There are several things that can be done to fight for our causes such as giving back, forming groups in your community, and surrounding yourself with others that inspire you or focus on inspiring others.

There are many things that I feel passionate about and connected to. Animals and children are innocent and need people to ensure their safety. Animals cannot speak to tell us what they are enduring, so there need to be ways to support them. Children are also innocent and sadly harm is done to them way too often. I also try raising awareness for Multiple Sclerosis and participate in things to raise money to discover a cure. In a world that is full of negativity and hate, I do the best I can to inspire others and spread positivity to as many as I can. I think it is important to fight for those that are unable to fight for themselves. If I had a way to save everyone that needed help, I would do so instantly.

Thank you for visiting my site and reading what I have shared. I hope you found this interesting, and I look forward to learning what you feel your purpose in life is. I think knowing what you are passionate about would help me to get to know you better. I do look forward to reading your comments and will respond to comments as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending you LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

How to overcome a negative mindset

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Since December 9, 2021, when I was laid off from my job, my mind has been on a continuous and endless downward spiral with negativity. It has been an incredibly frustrating and discouraging month. Logically, I do understand that there was nothing I did wrong to deserve the layoff, but that is not making this situation any easier.  Considering I have always tried finding the positive in all situations in life, it is difficult for me to process all the negative emotions I have been experiencing.

One month of struggling to not allow the negative and disappointing thoughts circling in my mind has been exhausting. Too often I feel as though I am drowning in the fierce rapids that continue pulling me down. I was good at my job and the clients enjoyed working with me and I enjoyed them as well. I keep reminding myself that my job did not define who I am and that I deserve to be treated better and with respect while at work.

I find it a little insane that I can be somewhat logical about some things, and it is impossible to let go of the illogical emotions surrounding the layoff. I have been applying for many jobs daily, all have been remote because I am still nervous about COVID. From what I understand, the latest variant Omicron is extremely contagious but does not appear to be as life-threatening as the other variants. I have read that those that are vaccinated and get COVID are just having mild symptoms. The symptoms of Omicron are similar to that of a common cold, which includes cough, fatigue or tiredness, and congestion, and a runny nose.

I am going to work towards trying to find my way out of the negative and draining mindset. I always used to do say it takes more energy to be negative than it does to be positive. Through the rest of this post, I am going to share ways to deal with and break free from negative thoughts. We are human and it can be easy to fall into the negativity quicksand. There are always ways to break the cycle before drowning in our pessimistic mind, it just takes time and determination.

Surprisingly enough, one of the most beneficial ways to clear our heads and refocus is to spend time alone. It tends to be easy for introverts to spend time alone, but even extroverts can find this to be useful when they try. Under normal circumstances, I am an extrovert and enjoy the ability to meet and talk to others, but even with that said I do value time alone to get a better understanding of my thoughts.

Spending time alone helps me to contemplate life and any events that have occurred. It is especially helpful to focus my attention on the good aspects of life because even when they are challenging to see there are always good things that life offers all of us.

Remember to try keeping things in perspective. We are all going to face dilemmas or ordeals in life. During these times it is easy to feel overwhelmed and even defeated. It is in our human nature to fall into a negative mindset. The various struggles encountered in life can cause anyone to lose perspective.

We all tend to focus on the problems, instead of focusing on the solutions. This is when it is crucial to look at the bigger picture. No matter how difficult any situation is, there are still positive things happening around us. When we can focus on these, it will be much easier to overcome the negative mindset.

When we are going through troublesome times, it is important to talk to someone that is trusted. Sometimes, we may just need to vent our frustrations. This will help to lift the weight off our shoulders. Once we have talked openly and honestly with our trusted confidant, that person may help to keep this situation in perspective and eliminate negative emotions, which may help clear our negative mindset.

If I am being 100% honest and transparent, talking about what is causing me to feel negative is not easy for me. I do not like feeling as though I am burdening someone else with what I am going through in life, so I end up keeping my feeling buried deep down and all that does is cause problems to become worse and possibly create other issues. I can speak from experience when I say trying to ignore feelings is the most unhealthy way to be and I will urge you to try talking do someone!

Another concept that is important to understand is, we cannot expect everything to be perfect. If we convince ourselves through illogical ideals anything can ever be perfect, we are depriving ourselves of happiness. Trying to escape from a negative mindset will require us to fixate on realistic goals, instead of impracticable ones.

If you have never tried or even heard about the Displacement Theory, it might help to try this out! This is ending the patterns of negative thoughts by trying to replace the thoughts with something else. It is impossible to think of two things at the same time, simply choose something you would love to do and begin working towards only that! Allow the pursuit of a dream to replace the negative thoughts that are consuming your mind.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my site and read this post. If anything, I have mentioned resonates with you, I would love to hear more about what you have gone through and how you handled things. As I have already mentioned, life is not easy, and it can take effort to overcome. Like always, I am looking forward to reading your comments and I promise to respond as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Curveballs keep coming

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In life the only thing that is consistent and unavoidable is challenges. No matter what we do and how much we try to do our best, life will always throw curveballs our way. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to duck, or miss being hit hard with the ball. All we can do is roll with the punches and adapt to the various obstacles we face. Of course, this is not easy to do, no matter how much practice we have endured.

The month of December has been extremely challenging. At the beginning of the month, I had a decent job that allowed me to work from the safety and comfort of my home. Surprisingly, but not shocking my company did a mass layoff two weeks before Christmas. Honestly, I was only shocked because of the timing. Although, logically with an employer we are only their worker bees and not a friend that anyone truly cares about.

I have been trying to stay optimistic and believe better things are coming. I keep reminding myself that when one door closes, another one will open. I have honestly always had a job, so the past three weeks have not been easy for me. At times I think it gives me too much time to think, which can be awful because of all the negativity surrounding the world.

On Christmas evening, my husband and I were on our way home when we ran into another challenge. We had to stop along the way for gas, but when we went to leave the truck would not start. Thankfully, my husband is mechanically inclined as I am anything but and he was able to quickly determine what the problem was, the fuel pump went out. He was able to get the truck to start by kicking under the truck where the fuel pump was. I would have just panicked and been in tears if he was not there.

Unfortunately, when it rains it pours and two days later, we had to have it towed to the mechanic. As luck would have it two weeks after being laid off, I ended up with an expensive repair bill. Things could have gone much worse with the fuel pump issue because we did have to drive on the interstate, and this could have caused an accident.

During the year there have been too many curveballs thrown my way and none of them missed. Yes, some of them hit harder than others and were extremely unexpected. Others were not as bad and easy to bounce back from. I cannot get these balls to miss hitting me head-on, but I will not let them stop me from living my best life.

Thank you for visiting my site. I hope you enjoyed what I have shared and possibly understand because you have been through something similar. I hope your week has gone well and you are still staying as safe as possible. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

~Overcoming challenging obstacles~

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Many things that happen in life were not planned and were completely unexpected. When these unplanned situations occur, they can turn our lives upside down and inside out. What do you do to pull yourself together and continue moving forward? Do you take a break and rebuild what feels like a collapse of your life? Do you surrender to the struggles, curl up in a ball, and wait for the storm to pass? Do you keep fighting with the strength you have internally and continue living your life?

As y’all already know, I was laid off from my job last week. Of course, even though it was always in the back of my mind that layoffs could happen, I was not expecting to be laid off so close to Christmas. Over the past few days, I have been processing my emotions and trying to let go of my anger and sadness. I have decided to do everything possible to stay positive and move forward with my life. This does not mean I will not still go through moments when I am irate and then sad, but I am going to try not letting these negative emotions consume and destroy my happiness.

Going through hard times happens to everyone, but there are several ways to overcome hard times. I hope the following ways to overcome hard times will help you the next time you face challenges, struggles, and or hardships.

One of the most important things is to understand, things will not always be as difficult as they are initially, and they will get easier. I have always believed that everything in life happens for a reason and something better is waiting for us. We cannot change the hardships when they occur, all we can do is accept and embrace them, and carry on.

With any struggle we endure there are valuable lessons to learn. The struggles we experience during our life offers us the strength we will need for tomorrow, next week, and or next year. I will admit any struggle I go through I always ask myself the same questions, “Why me?” “What did I do to deserve this?” “Why is this happening to me?” I understand blaming bad situations on my bad luck or anyone else does not fix or change anything. Accepting that no one is perfect and identifying our faults can help welcome change and improvements into our life!

Struggles can be exhausting, painful, and incredibly stressful. For our mental health we must try living for the day. Do not worry about what happened yesterday or last week, do not worry about what could happen tomorrow, just think about the current moment. If we are always worried about tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year, our anxiety will continuously be extremely high, and this is an unhealthy way to live our short life.

Understanding what you can control and what you have no control over is very important. We can control our actions and reactions, but we do not have any control over anyone else’s actions or reactions. When we learn to let go of controlling others or things, we can solely focus inward!

We often feel alone when we are going through a challenging time in life. It is always important to have someone that you can trust and be able to talk with them open and honestly. I know without a doubt that my three cats know how I am feeling all the time and they are delighted that I am with them more now that I do not have a job. I think everyone knows how much I love animals and that we treat our cats like they are our children because they kind of are! Anyone that goes through something difficult in life that leaves them feeling lost needs a sweet furry friend that can make anyone smile!

On Sunday evening, I had a nice chat with my former supervisor about the layoffs. Not the supervisor I reported to at the time of the layoff, the one I was working with for a few weeks before that I just adore and respect. Chatting with her, made things feel a little better because she did not know what was going to happen on Thursday and I trust what she says. This makes me think that “maybe” my supervisor did not know as well, but I will never know what she did or did not know.

Being able to view this layoff situation in a more positive mindset means I will have more time to do the things I love and that give me the outlet needed in life. I am thankful that I will be able to focus more on building on my writing skills and learn of other ways to use the skills I learn. I have always enjoyed writing and working 40 hours a week made it difficult because at the end of the day, I was always too exhausted to focus on writing. I am also going to have more time to read the books I have been wanting to read.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my site today and read what I have shared. I always welcome your comments, which I will respond to even faster now because I have the time. I hope you had a great and safe weekend, and your week starts great and gets even better with each day that passes. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa