Sometimes situations do not go as expected. A good day may turn bad, everything may suddenly go wrong. Needless to say, it’s difficult to stay calm in such situations. We tend to become confused, panic or even heated by anger. That won’t help you much to get out of the situation though. Handling a bad situation in such condition will just make it worse; you are more likely to make mistakes. That’s why it’s important to stay calm. By staying calm, you will be able to judge the situation wisely and take the appropriate actions.
But how do you stay calm when the situation goes bad? How do you calm your nerves while the world around you is falling down? I believe there are some simple things you can do. Here are 26 tips ; pick the ones that work for you:
- Take a deep breath.
- Do nothing for 5 minutes.
- Take a nap.
- Take a shower.
- Listen to comforting music.
- Listen to natural sounds.
- Play music.
- Share to a positive friend.
- Meditate.
- Ask “What’s the next action?” and focus on only that one thing.
- Go to nature (mountain, beach, etc.).
- Ride a bike.
- Talk about other topics.
- Drink a bottle of water.
- Play games (just for a while!).
- Go eat with someone who is not part of the situation.
- Exercise.
- Read spiritual texts.
- Listen to spiritual audio programs.
- Unplug the Internet.
- Take a cup of coffee.
- Say to yourself, “This situation is not as bad as it looks. Many people have handled situations worse than this successfully.”
- Be grateful for what you still have (instead of looking at what you don’t have).
- Be grateful for what you can learn from the situation.
- Take a walk around a park.
- Smile.
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Comment by harveen
11 13. August 2007, 1:44 pm o'clock |
Its all in the reaction, I think. Bad situations always arise, and most times are out of our control. While we may not be able to control these situations, we can, however, control ourselves. How we preceive and react to the situation is paramount in overcoming it-its a choice.
Comment by ameL
10 12. August 2007, 10:44 pm o'clock |
@donald + graham: Interesting points but I’m more inclined to believe that happiness is a state of being as opposed to something we make a decision about. Yes, at moments we can say to ourselves “I’m going to be happy now” and be but on the other hand we are one giant ball of emotions that we don’t have a complete control of at all times.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
9 12. August 2007, 8:34 pm o'clock |
Yes, Graham. Happiness is a decision, so it is up to us to decide whether or not we want to be happy. Unfortunately, not everyone can consciously make such decision when situation goes bad.
Comment by Graham Lutz, The Young Capitalist
8 11. August 2007, 3:29 pm o'clock |
I tell myself that I’m in this situation now no matter what I do, so I can be pissed in this situation or I can be happy in the situation. It’s up to me, so I might as well be happy, right?
Comment by Donald Latumahina
7 11. August 2007, 11:47 am o'clock |
Brad:
I’m sure stressful situations are inevitable, so it’s important to have a “tool set” of how to respond to it. Everyone can create their own “tool set” which suits their own needs and situations. As you said, calming down before reacting is important. Unfortunately, the opposite often happens if we are unprepared.
Kim:
You’re very welcome, Kim. Bad situations also happen to me every now and then. I’m now learning to calm myself down :)
ameL:
I understand that most of the tips do not work well for situations which require immediate actions, but I’m sure that there are many bad situations which do not require immediate responses. Kim’s situation (comment #2) is an example. Of course, everyone faces different situation, which in your case seems to require quick responses.
I completely agree that we should prepare for bad times, and that we need to practice dealing with it. Every bad situation is actually a chance to practice.
KC:
Then maybe you actually need the Internet to calm yourself down, KC :P
Efrain:
I know the list is far from complete. Sure, you can make it 28 tips :)
Armand:
I agree that we need to get a deeper understanding of the cause (plus the other actions you mentioned) to really pass a bad situation. But I guess I can only do them if I calm myself down first :) Calming down is just the first step of handling bad situations. After that we need to wisely judge the situation (which includes the actions you mentioned) and then take the appropriate actions.
Comment by Armand
6 11. August 2007, 8:20 am o'clock |
Good list, but could be much better.
These things help you get past the bad situation only on the surface. To *really* pass a bad situation one needs to have a deeper understanding of what caused it, what could he learn from it (”There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. William Shakespeare ~ Hamlet), how could he apply what he learns from it in other aspects of his life and/or in the future, et cetera.
Anyway, these are very good tips for a more superficial and quick solution!
Kind Regards,
Armand
Comment by Efrain Sanchez
5 10. August 2007, 11:14 pm o'clock |
I like sleep or sex as part of my calming routine. But they are not on this list, make it 28 tips!
Comment by KC
4 10. August 2007, 8:42 pm o'clock |
If I unplug my internet things get really bad…. :P
Comment by ameL
3 10. August 2007, 8:38 pm o'clock |
Interesting post but I don’t think these tips work in the real world. Of course, it depends on what the situation is but we usually don’t have the time in sticky situations for any of these tips with the exception of the first and the last one. So, between taking a deep breath and shooting off a smile we have to come up with quick creative solution to whatever the situation is.
I would suggest using the time when situations are good to improve oneself so you are ready for those bad times. Yes, we react badly a lot of times but it’s like everything else the more we practice it the better we get at it. Walking away every time from a bad situation doesn’t give us that experience of a bad situation. On the other hand, one can never be ready so… :)
I’d say learn to trust yourself and nurture that intuition.
If not, say “wait a minute….”, that buys time too :)
Keep up the good work, great site.
Comment by Sookhan Kim
2 10. August 2007, 2:59 pm o'clock |
This is what I NEED yesterday!! Some blogger said horrible about me in his blog. I almost fight against him.
It is very helpful for me. Thank you.
I change my email address, I hope this comment will success :)