Living one day at a time: Coping strategies

Is there a time in your life when you are bored, empty, and lonely? Have you sensed your life to be meaningless? Have you noticed that you keep on doing things you do not like anymore?  If the answers to these questions are all in the affirmative, I believe that you need time to breathe and view life from another perspective.

I would like to share my coping strategies in living my life everyday. From experience, I have identified five useful strategies and will explain how I now live my life one day at a time. Here are some coping strategies:

1. Thank God. Remember to thank God for the life you have, despite the trials heartaches you have experienced. Although this strategy is very hard to do when you are in the midst of frustrations and painful experience, thanking God for everything that happens to you is a manifestation that you follow His will. Here is the poem entitled “A Sleep of Prisoners” by Christopher Fry cited in Kane (1980).  

2. Dream Big. Through your dreams, you will have purpose and reason in everything you do. You can set doable plans day by day to reach your goals. In addition, you can find meaning in each activity you plan to do and realize during the day. According to Miamo (2007), you have to dream big for the welfare of all.

I recall my dream of pursuing a Ph.D. last October 2000. I passed the portals of De La Salle University-Manila on my way to Philippine Normal University to attend a seminar. I entertained the idea of studying in La Salle. After I graduated from my master’s degree at the University of San Carlos, where my department chairperson motivated me to take the entrance examination for La Salle. Fortunately, I passed and took up Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics. Thus, dream big for as long as you live.

3. List the things that make you joyful. Have a list of the things that make you smile, laugh, and experience joy within your heart. Through listing the simple things that make you happy and joyful, you will learn to appreciate the simple joys that life brings to you. In fact, while I was writing my master’s thesis, I kept a journal and wrote down my thoughts, visions, missions, plans for the day and week. Also, I was sketching the visions I have in my head that I think would help me realize my goals. 

Simple things that can make you joyful are sometimes taken for granted. For instance, you fail to acknowledge the simple act of kindness of the persons you love, like a simple text that shows they care about you. In this manner, have a list of the simple ways you enjoy doing such as texting with a friend, watching movies a friend, and dining out with your family.

To illustrate, here are the few simple things that make me joyful: 1) eating ice cream with a friend, 2) watching healthy growing kids, 3) helping a depressed individual, 4) arranging flowers in a vase, and 5) playing with the puppy.

4. Commune with Nature. Nature speaks and teaches so many facets of life. As a matter of fact, nature can teach you wisdom. In my hometown, I find time staying in the backyard and watch the butterflies happily hovering over the wild flowers. 

Through this, I realize that human beings are like butterflies. They also want to be free. Other ways to commune with nature are walking in the rain, at the beach where you watch the waves and the sunset. By watching the sunset, you can reflect that there is life after death. Sunset, thus, can be a daily symbol of your mortality.

5. Exercise. Everyday, I always find myself brisk walking from my dormitory in Singalong to La Salle. Through this form of exercise, I can think a lot and understand humanity more. I can also have more time to think about my dreams and goals. Besides, I can capture something interesting in the scenery, such as two preschoolers holding hands on their way home.

Furthermore, feeling stressed out or burn-out is a sign that informs you to take a break and assess yourself. Through these coping strategies, I hope that you will figure out what will be applicable in your life.

How do you find your life today? Do you live one day at a time? Why don’t you try to apply these coping strategies in living one day at a time?