Coping Skills
I’ve had people come into my office and tell me they have no coping skills. “Hogwash!” I tell them. “You are here and you have clothes on. You must have some kind of coping skills.”
Be sure to honor the skills, abilities and resources that are presented to you in your life by being aware of them and using them. A coping skill might be something as small as a cup of tea or as big as taking a class. We’ve all got the ability to use the things around us to improve our existence, if we chose to do so.
A list of coping skills might include:
- Sitting down with a cup of tea or coffee.
- Taking a time out in your car while you are at work or before you go into your home after work.
- Taking a class
- Listening to music
- Meditation
- Sex
- Laughter
- Exercise
- Grabbing a sad movie so you can allow yourself to have a good cry
- A soak in the bathtub
- Picking up the phone to find the resources that you need or searching out information in other waysVenting with a friend (Do this with any eye towards building a plan as you speak your struggles out loud)
- Praying
- Journaling
- Using a tool such as the anxiety equation
These are off the top of my head. It would be great to start a compilation on here – share your ideas!
Posted: July 29th, 2009 under Personal.
Tags: Coping Skills
Comments
Comment from Kelly Karius
Time September 3, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Thank you so much for your comments Lubna. There’s a book called Simple Abundance – A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach that places a huge focus on a grateful journal. You are right. When we feel things starting to go wrong, there is much that we sometimes take for granted!
Comment from Lubna
Time September 3, 2009 at 1:13 pm
What helps me is talking to a friend (it includes a chat over the internet/ or even an exchange of emails). Blogging also helps with coping – but yes you have covered that in your list by mentioning – journaling.
Once, when things really began to go wrong, I began to plot down things I should be grateful for, on an excel sheet, every night. It helped me so much.