From our research we know that people who had previously bullied somebody had experienced a significant change in their home life, for example moving house, change in family finances, losing a loved one or their parents divorcing. Life is always changing and that’s an amazing thing. That being said, we’re creatures of habit, and coping with change can sometimes be painful. Learning to deal with change in a healthy way is essential for your well-being as life will unexpectedly throw you curveballs so the sooner you develop a healthy resilience to it, the better off you will be.
With that in mind, here is a list of tips we have compiled to help you cope with change in your life:
Acknowledge the change.
The most important thing to do when change is happening is to acknowledge it and recognise it. All the fear and emotional pain comes down to is an unwillingness to accept what is happening.
Expect to feel uncomfortable with what’s unfamiliar.
Give yourself permission to feel weird, its normal and everyone does when facing change. Change affects us in unexpected ways. Things that never used to bother us are suddenly much more frustrating, you might have a much shorter fuse than usual or need more space and alone time.
[full-width-figure image=”https://dtl-staging.org/2020/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/leaves.jpg” alt=”coping change”]
Ask for help.
Change is daunting and scary for everyone. One thing all people who deal with change well all have in common is knowing how to ask for help. Don’t underestimate how much better you feel when you do. Asking for help takes real courage and can be a life-saving skill.
Face your feelings
Change can bring up so many uncomfortable feelings so it’s not surprising people get very good at hiding from them. You may feel angry, upset, in shock or scared. But don’t worry too much, all feelings pass and no one ever died from their feelings, it’s our reactions and judgements of our feelings that cause the real problems.
Practise an attitude of gratitude.
Change can be terrifying because it brings up so much uncertainty and fear of the unknown. Fear is a negative and draining emotion that can be counteracted effectively with gratitude. Actively thinking of things we are grateful for can transform a glass empty kind of moment into a glass full kind of moment. It can help add a little perspective when we need it most.
What’s changing in your life? We wanna hear about it so join our community and get advice from other people or our team of Support Mentors.
