What to do when Life gets tough?

Lately there has been a lot of things going on in A. and M.'s life. Many things changed and it got very stressful and exhausting. That's why they seemed to be different persons: everything was just too much. A. had a lot of pressure on her because of the upcoming prom she organized, tests and other school events. M. is getting closer to her final exams and time just seems to fly by way faster than usual. Also social problems came in their way and they couldn't focus on what is good for them because they were trying to be the right person for someone else. But enough of that, now A. and M. want to find themselves again and start were they stopped the last time. Their new motto is: YOU should be the most important person in your own life and do what feels good for you and makes you happy! Here are three little aspects which might concern you as well at the moment and help you to be happy again:

RELATIONSHIPS
Nothing is more important than the people who care about you the most and love you although you are not perfect. Sometimes people take their closest friends for granted and stop trying because they think: they will love me anyway. Of course they do love you, but you still have to put some effort into your relationships, not matter if it's with your parents, brothers, sisters, boyfriend, girlfriends etc. Give what you want to receive, because people will treat you like you treat them. This seems like the most logical thing to know, but sometimes when life gets tough we tend to forget about this rule and start to behave differently. If you ever find yourself in a situation like this it has to click in your head and you need to start to take care of the people who know you the best. This will not just make them feel your love again, this feeling will also show you that you have people who support you, stand behind you and who will catch you if you fall.

SELF CONTENTMENT
Another thing that is key to a blithe and happy life is self contentment. You are who you are and you can't totally change yourself. This is something that only a few people can accept and especially young boys and girls seem to have problems with respecting their own person. They either find dissatisfaction in their appearance, in their level of intelligence etc. There always will be people who are prettier, smarter, happier and who have a life that seems to be above perfection, but unfortunately we never look close enough to see that they have problems too. EVERYONE has something they don't like about themselves and also if some people don't show it, EVERYONE can be hurt somehow.  And while we get crazy about our weak spots, others don't even notice the strechmarks on our legs, the wryness of our nose or the fact that we don't know what a polynomial function looks like. All these worries are most of the time irrelevant and senseless, because they don't define you at all. It is not about the person you try to be or try to copy, it is about the person you are and who you always will be true to. The goal should not be to aim for perfection in every section of our lives, it should rather be to accept ourselves how we are and try to expose our best features in order to hide our weaknesses. All this might seem hard to understand and to accept but the more mature we become, the more we see how easy it can be to just be yourself.

YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN YOUR LIFE
You are the protagonist of your own life, so your needs are more important than anyone else's. Of course this doesn't mean you should act like an egoist, but if helping another person affects your life in a really negative way and you start to suffer from their problems too, it is time to stop. Especially for our loved ones, we would give anything we have in order to make their life easier and perfect, but sometimes people need to figure out their problems on their own and learn a lesson, instead of having others do their chores for them. This can be a harder decision for some because they tend to act helpful naturally and like to put others before them although they have enough problems on their own, while others are more confident at the things they do and have the guts to say what they think and do what they like. Doesn't matter which kind of person you are now, it only matters which person you want to be (probably neither not, but a perfect mixture between the two extremes) and your goal should be to find your personal balance as a good base for a happy life.

Hopefully this was a little helpful for you as well. In this tough times it is not important to look backwards on what happened in the past and can't be changed, but on whats right in front of you and on what is in your hands and can be done wonderfully!

Always to remember to keep up your Merry Attitude!

xx,
M.&A.