We all go through periods of difficulty. Sometimes the period is short, lasting only for a few days. Other times, a negative period can last for months or even years. When life throws you a curveball and hard times hit, it can be tough to bounce back. So, if you’ve ever found yourself telling your best friend or coworker, “My life sucks,” and meaning it, then this blog post is for you.
Life sucks sometimes. Bad things will happen in life—they’re inescapable. But a good friend will be there to remind you to take a deep breath because, at the end of the day, spending time dwelling on the situation won’t help. Like a good friend, we’re here to tell you 20 things you can do when life sucks. So read on.
The Most Common Reasons For Thinking “My Life Sucks”
You might think your life sucks because of a number of broad, global truths, like:
Life isn’t fair.
Even though you work your ass off, there isn’t enough time to do the things you need (and want) to do.
You’ll never “have it all,” no matter how much hard work you put in.
Life is full of pain and loss.
Or, you might feel life’s suckiness on a more personal level. Maybe your social life isn’t satisfying, your health is declining, you’re unemployed or you’re experiencing money problems.
And maybe, you think your life sucks because you’re the one living it. Maybe you think you suck at life.
Why You May Think You Suck At Life
It’s possible you look at all the areas of your life and think, “What’s the common denominator here?” Logically, your answer is you.
But listen, thinking you suck at life—deciding that you are the problem—is probably not going to change much in and of itself. Reflections on past actions can be helpful. But if you simply dwell on past mistakes, you enter a danger zone.
Instead, you should acknowledge past missteps and then focus entirely on the future. Take massive action on what you can change. This is what’s truly important and will allow you to change the trajectory of your own life.
20 Tips for When You Think Life Sucks
As a human being, you will experience days when life sucks. We all will. It’s guaranteed and totally unavoidable. But there’s a better place to shoot for. These 20 tips have helped successful people move into a better future, and we hope they do the same for you.
1. Meditate
When you are feeling down or defeated, take time to breathe deeply and center yourself with meditation. This relaxing exercise will calm both the body and the mind, allowing you to find peace even in challenging situations and find harmony even when chaos surrounds you.
2. Don’t Dwell
One of the best ways to practice self-care when your life sucks is to not think about it all the time. Reject negative thoughts and focus on positivity. Or distract yourself by watching something interesting or pursuing an interest.
3. Exercise
Moving your body is an excellent way to get your blood flowing and your endorphins up, which create positive emotions and happy feelings. Your body will naturally produce endorphins when you exercise, so get up off the couch and get your heart pumping!
4. Spend Time with Loved Ones
During hard times, turn to your loved ones. Everyone else may worsen your situation, but those who love you will work to lighten your load. They’ll keep it positive. More than likely, they’ll try to make their time with you as joy-filled and stress-free as possible, knowing that you have more than enough on your plate as it is. And if they do bring up the bad situation, sometimes sharing a burden can make it a little easier to bear.
5. To Hell with “Bad Luck”
You want a better life? Stop believing in bad luck! There’s no such thing as good luck or bad luck. There’s only you and the decisions you choose to make. The healthiest way to view the future is that it’s your decision to make. It’s under your control. You hold the power in your own life. So to hell with luck and destiny too. Our choices make us who we are.
6. Reject Chaos and Choose Your Path
When we get caught up in a bad situation, it can feel like a million things are going wrong at once (and often in different directions)! But you need to say no to the chaos and choose the path that will provide you the most peace. There may be plenty of paths. But you can only choose one. Make a decision that’s best for right now. And go with it—no regrets.
7. Feel the Frustration
It’s okay to feel the burn. To get fed up. To be frustrated. What we’re saying is: It’s normal to feel the pain when life sucks. And it’s healthy to allow emotions to play out in the moment, rather than keeping them bottled up inside. So don’t be afraid to let out your sadness. But don’t wallow in it either. Once you’ve let your emotions run their course, grit your teeth and move forward.
8. Just Breathe
Sometimes it’s the small things that matter most. When hard times drag you down, focus on your most basic need: your breath. Breathe in—breathe out. Taking a deep breath will help you keep your cool. It will help you calm down. It will also help you stop and think before you react too strongly. Try it now: Breathe in—breathe out.
9. Practice Gratitude
Every day, write down positive things that you feel thankful for. Sure, they can be big picture things. But we like to pick small things that have happened in the last 24 hours. Things totally unique to you, like a particular flavor of coffee you enjoyed this morning or a conversation with an old friend last night. Pick 3 to 5 things you’re grateful for, write them down in a journal and add to the list every day.
This will help shift your focus from “My life sucks” to “My life is filled with positive things.”
10. Take a Mental Health Day
When you feel like your life sucks, take a day off for the sake of your mental health. Take off work and do some things you truly enjoy. Maybe you want to read a book, listen to your favorite podcast, or do something else you’ll have fun with. Spending time doing your favorite activities is a great way to start liking your life again.
11. Practice Reframing
Reframing is a powerful tool to use whenever you’re having difficulty coping with something. For example, we suggest reframing your problems by thinking about them as situations. Problems need to be solved, whereas situations are temporary events to be handled.
Do you see how a perspective shift can change how daunting an issue seems in your mind’s eye? A problem can seem impossible to conquer. But if you just change your frame of mind, it can become doable.
12. Learn the Lesson
There’s no doubt that tough times teach us many things about life. What do you think you can learn from this hard time in your own life? What’s the takeaway? Did you make choices that led you here? Or was this outcome totally outside your control? What have you learned from your response to this situation? Would you handle anything differently if you had the chance to do it again?
13. Be Mindful of Social Media Use
Mindfulness is such an important characteristic to employ, and it’s especially necessary when using social media. If you are experiencing a low period, be careful what you post on social media. The whole world doesn’t need to see your dirty laundry. The day may come when you don’t want everyone else to know your past struggles.
So be cautious about what you post or share during this time. Be mindful of how your future self might feel about oversharing or indulging in posts that generate sympathy. You don’t want to have regrets later.
14. Think Intentionally Positive Thoughts
Positivity is powerful. Choosing to think positive thoughts amid trials is the mark of a strong person and a persevering mind. You will go far if you can master this in your own life. Don’t focus on the bad things in life. Instead, focus on the good. Intentional positivity is one of the keys to a better life.
15. Never Give Up
It’s easy to feel defeated when you feel like your life sucks. But it’s so important that you keep going and never give up! Remember that there’s always more for you around the next bend. There’s a better life waiting for you tomorrow or next week or next year. You just have to push through this hard time. And you can do it! We’re rooting for you.
16. Set Growth Goals
When life gets you down, one thing you can do is look up! And what better way to do that than by setting growth goals for yourself and literally motivating yourself out of the rut? Try setting goals to enhance your life’s quality or enjoyment or set a goal to improve your overall health. Goals will keep you focused on the positive and looking ahead to the future, rather than focusing on what may be going wrong right now.
17. Put the Past Behind You
Even though you may not want to hear this, you really can’t change the past. So there’s no use dwelling on it. Learn from it and move on. It’s better to spend your time dreaming and scheming about the future. What do you want to do? Where do you want to go? Who do you want to become? You can’t focus on all the positive things in your future if you’re dwelling on the negative things in your past.
18. Find the Humor
Nearly every life situation (whether good or bad) has a bit of humor in it. If your life sucks right now, you may find only dark humor, but hey—it’s still funny, right? Find something to laugh about. And then go ahead and laugh. And we mean really laugh. Deep belly laugh until you cry. Because there’s nothing else you can do, and you might as well!
19. Take Responsibility
This might be a tough pill to swallow. But the truth is, sometimes we do have a part in bringing about our hard times. And, if that’s the case for you, you need to take responsibility. What did you do that you wouldn’t do a second time? Do you have any regrets? Was there another choice you could have made? Take stock, and own your actions.
20. Be Kind to Yourself
Lastly, for the sake of your self-esteem and your heart, be kind. Forgive yourself and give grace. Because hard times are hard. And you deserve love right now, from others and from yourself as well. So be good to yourself. If you had a hand in this struggle, remember that we all make mistakes. It’s going to be okay.
Why You Should Look to the Future with Hope
When your life sucks, it feels like it’s going to suck forever. But it won’t. You know how we know? Because you’re reading this. That tells us you’re the type of person who won’t be satisfied staying in a life that sucks. You’ll take action (like you’re doing right now).
So when life sucks, look to the future, plan great things and persevere! There is hope for you yet. We guarantee it.
