It’s natural to have ups and downs in life. We have a great day and we feel great! We have a less-than-great day and it leaves us feeling, well, less than great! These are more often than not typical reactions and emotions linked to what is going on day to day in our lives.
Good things happen, making us feel good, and bad things happen too, causing us to feel sad, angry, or low. Life throws all sorts of experiences at us and having such a colorful range of experiences helps us appreciate the good and find the strength to get through the bad.
Why do I feel bad?
Wellbeing and mental health are slightly different from reacting to day-to-day life in that there isn’t necessarily a direct link. Sometimes you can’t put your finger on anything that is particularly wrong, you just don’t feel good.
It might not matter what has happened in your day or how things are going in life-you still find yourself feeling low, anxious, or sometimes numb. For some of us, at our lowest point, we can even feel that life isn’t worth living. That can be a really scary place to be. Perhaps you’ve experienced this? You’ve been at a party or you’ve done well at an exam, got a new job, you’re on holiday or you’ve spent a fun day with friends or family – and still, you come away feeling awful. Not only do you feel awful but it can make it feel worse that you ‘should’ have had a great time, only you didn’t. Our mental health can take a tumble for many reasons. Sometimes events can be a trigger, for example losing a loved one or having a tough time at work or school. Sometimes it’s more physical and our body could be reacting to a change in sleep, nutrition, or illness. And sometimes we can’t put our finger on one thing that has caused us to feel bad. You don’t need a reason to be struggling with your mental health, any one of us can struggle at any time.
6 tips to build resilience whatever life throws your way
There are some things we can do to help us build our mental strength and to keep ourselves as healthy as possible both in body and mind. Some of these can help us keep feeling healthy and others can help us to cope when we are not in a good place.
Here are a few of our favorite ideas for self-care and looking after our wellbeing whatever life throws at us. Some of these might not be new to you and you might have heard of them before.
However, it can be quite a different thing knowing how to take care of yourself to actually actioning it! So ask yourself if you’ve considered all of these and whether there is somet