I have three main strategies for coping with stressful situations. First, I identify the problem or issue and turn it over in my mind – examine it. How do I feel about it? What’s going on for me? I try and make sense of the situation and my reactions to it. That’s what yesterday’s blog post was about.

Another strategy I like to use is to think forward to a time when my current situation is a past event. I focus on a time in the future (maybe one month or one year from now) and am comforted by the knowledge that, no matter how hard things are right now, they will be behind me in that future. Every painful, difficult, sad event I’ve ever experienced ended and I was able to move on from it. I have utter faith in the idea that everything works out somehow. And while I don’t always get what I thought I wanted, I always get what I need.

And then finally, so that I make sure I don’t lose sight of the good stuff right now, I think about what I am grateful for in my day. So here is my gratitude list for today:

• I am grateful for my loving husband, who is trying so hard to make our world the place we want it to be.
• I am grateful for my amazing friends and family. We are all going through our own loss and grief and struggles, but they have been there for me today, and that means so very much to me.
• I am grateful that, in amongst the uncertainty, I have a fantastic job that I really love, workmates who really care about each other, and a boss who genuinely wants to support us.
• I am grateful I have a car and a driver’s license. I’ve driven round and round and round the city in the past two weeks, slowly. Sitting in traffic today, I was able to reflect on how much easier my life has become with a car.
• I am grateful that I have an outlet. I can write it all out, and I can put it out there and feel less overwhelmed. I’m grateful for my iPhone, my iPad, my WordPress site, and my internet connection.