A guide on what to do when life throws you curveballs
Oscar Wilde – “To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect”.
I love life. I really do. The world is full of many wonderful, inspiring people and things, all just waiting to be discovered. With that being said, life doesn’t always necessarily go your way.
It’s the irony in this that makes it bearable – how did Alanis Morrisette put it? It’s like rain on your wedding day, or a free ride when you’ve already paid. The line that resonates most is this one – life has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you think everything is okay.
But haven’t we all been there? Haven’t we all had life throw us a curveball that we weren’t expecting? And, most importantly of all, haven’t we all learnt to deal with these occurrences?
If you haven’t yet, rest assured that you will. It’s just one of those facts of life. To help you as you navigate life’s little lessons, we’ve put together this guide on what to do when life throws you curveballs. You know what they say – when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!
Put things into perspective
One of the first and most important things you should do in the event that life throws you an unexpected curveball is to try and put things into a bit of perspective.
It’s normal to react to a bad situation by feeling like it’s the end of the world as you know it and that it is the worst thing that could have possibly happened – but is it really? Actually?
You can’t see into the future, so you won’t know at the time if the curveball that life has thrown you will have a positive or negative impact on your life. Consider these examples:
That promotion you got passed over for? Maybe you’re meant to move on to bigger and better things! The person you love just broke up with you? Maybe you’re about to meet the true love of your life! Late for work? Maybe you just missed being in a bad traffic accident!
Practice acceptance
Mourn the loss of whatever failure has occurred, whether it be big or small, and accept it.
Easier said than done, I know, but try to apply ‘The Law of Least Effort’. This essentially means the path of least resistance, as struggling against life’s curveballs is basically the same as struggling against the whole universe. And that’s a pretty tall order!
It’s always easy to wish for things to be different, but wasting your energies on that is exactly that – a waste of energy. Remind yourself that the moment in which you’re living is part of the universe’s plan for you and everything is as it should be, even if you don’t understand why.
Disney films have always had a history of containing a moral lesson. I think the one that’s contained in the box office hit ‘Frozen’ applies here: Sometimes you need to… Let. It. Go.
Look for new solutions
When life throws you a curveball, one of the reasons why it tends to knock people for six is because it removes the sense of control a person feels they have over their own life.
Instead of dwelling on whatever has happened, try to come up with a way to work around it. Curveballs in life force you to think creatively about how to find a solution and you’ll need to utilize your problem solving skills. Brainstorming and meditation can help with this.
If it’s money troubles you’re experiencing, for example, consider taking out quick cash loans which can see you through a rough patch until you’ve worked out a more long-term solution.
Dealing with the curveballs that life throws at you is all about finding your way around obstacles. It’s all about focusing on the things that you can control and what you can do to find a solution whenever you hit a bump in the road as you navigate the journey of life.
Learn from the experience
The unexpected curveballs of life don’t just occur once and then leave you to live out the rest of your days peacefully and curveball-free, unfortunately. It’s thus important to learn from these experiences as and when they crop up so you’ll be better equipped to deal with them.
Meditation is a great way to sit with your thoughts and feelings which will allow you to think about what (if anything) you could have done differently, and what you would do next time.
Ask yourself some of these questions:
- What do I need to do to get through this?
- How will this help me to get closer to my goals?
- What is the solution to this problem?
- How can I learn from this experience?
You can then use what you learned to help you through future experiences.
Anchor yourself to the future
The very nature of curveballs is that they have a tendency to throw you whatever course your life was previously on, which is one of the main reasons why they’re so disruptive.
If you’re the type of person who sets out goals for the future, you may need to adjust them after one of life’s blips so you can get back on track and anchor yourself to your future.
Remember what we said earlier about trying to put things back into perspective? This is essentially acting on those thoughts and looking to move towards a new future that you get to decide for yourself, regardless of what life has thrown at you or will throw at you again.
Final thoughts
When life throws you lemons, you make lemonade. It’s one of life’s oldest and most well-known phrases, and it’s entirely based on the fact that you can always find a way to deal with the curveballs that life throws at you, sometimes even to your own benefit!
So, we hope that this guide has helped you and you feel better prepared for life’s curveballs.