3 Simple Steps to Pull Yourself Out of Any Darkness

These are the simple (but hard) steps I used to pull myself out of the darkest moment of my adult life.

1. Acknowledge what happened.

   You're grieving. It could be grief for a past you didn't have or a future you didn't get, but it's painful. And it's intense. Whatever it was that pulled you into this darkness, acknowledge it. Really grieve it. This has to be the first step. Set an exact timeline of how long you'll grieve. It can be one day, one week, or one year. It's up to you how long you want to sit in your emotions. Then move to step two.
   

2. Make a promise to yourself and keep it. Set small daily goals for yourself that slowly build overtime. The "small" and "slowly" parts are crucial because if you promise yourself something, you have to do it. And nothing is too small or too slow. My first goal for myself was "get out of bed and change out of my pajamas." Treat it like your life depends on it because by golly your future happiness sure does. One of the reasons we don't face our healing is that we think we'll never be able to do it. It's big and overwhelming and at this point in our lives we feel weak. You need to establish trust in yourself. You CAN heal and you WILL heal. Anyone can overcome mental barriers with the right mindset.

   
   

3. And final, celebrate! "HELL F*CKING YEAH, you badass! You just got out of bed and changed out of your pajamas!" Congratulate yourself like you just ran a marathon or won a Nobel Prize. It might sound silly, but you know the reality. The real difficulty of the situation. Be proud of yourself. You deserve it.

Now get out there, and go feel GOOD AS HELL.