How to Stay Motivated When Life Gets Hard

Living has been super rough the last few weeks. Getting out of bed is hard. Eating breakfast is hard. Doing homework is even harder. Often in our lives we will go through these patches where we lose motivation to do anything and generally feel sad. While it is uncharacteristic of me to deal with this right at the beginning of spring, I would love to share my tips on how I stay motivated.

Tip #1: Focus on the Little Things

One of the most important ways I keep my head up when I'm not really feelin' it is to focus on all the little good things that are happening. Even when the bad things are big, there is always small things that can make me happy. In the spring this is often a rainy day or wild flowers. It could be your cat. It could be anything. It is important keep going so you can see the next little thing.

Tip #2: Make New Friends and Get in Touch with the Old Ones

This is one of the hardest things for me when I'm not feeling so good. I have this tendency to isolate myself, but that just isn't healthy. I'd love to thank my friend Nakia - even though I doubt she will see this - for being here for me during this rough time. I've had her over a few times, and shes a really good listener. It is very important to keep making friends and keep interacting (in person if possible) with other people.

Tip #3: Keep Moving Forward

A very important thing to keep in mind when feeling less than perfect is that it will never last forever. There are always things to look forward to. Even if it seems dark now, the light will come. One bible verse I try to live by is Philippians 3:14,

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

This verse to me is about how we need to keep pushing forward in order to glorify Christ. Everything you do should be to lift up praise to him.

Tip #4: Keep Your Priorities Straight

Prioritizing things is very hard for me, I tend to be very wishy-washy and jumble up what is important with what isn't. It is a very good idea to know what is important to you. What are your core values? When you do something that goes against those, it tends to make things worse. The number one priority in my life should be following Jesus, but that is so hard sometimes. I am so prone to stray from the path he is leading me on. I do know for a fact though, that when I get back on that path I feel a lot better.

Tip #5: Spite

I'll be honest with y'all, this is the biggest motivator for me lately. I even wrote a whole paper about it in my college comp class. Living out of spite has changed my life. Live to spite everything and everyone that told you that you couldn't do it, because you can. I know you can, and I know I can too. The depression getting you down by telling you that you can't even get out of bed? Fight back. Show depression who is boss. Now, I understand that doesn't always work - and it definitely isn't for everyone - but it is such an extremely uplifting thing for me.

Thanks for reading!

I just wanted to say thank you all for reading my posts, and I will get back to blogging regularly soon!