It is always too early to quit. Norman Vincent Peale
It happens to many people that after reaching certain achievements, what we have earned with so much effort disappears shortly afterwards. One of the most common cases that we can see on a daily basis is that of weight loss diets. After weeks of effort and after having lost a considerable number of kilos, with great regret we realize that we have gained that weight again shortly afterwards. Nor are relapses in the habit of smoking strange, after having abandoned it with considerable sacrifice on our part..
The same thing happens in the field of mental health. Many people get rid of their anxieties, depressions, etc. to discover shortly after that the symptoms that we thought were forgotten reappear. It seems to us that we advance two steps and go back one. This happens because, like everything in life, like any other achievement we achieve throughout our existence, and unfortunately, it seems it is more difficult to maintain what has been achieved than to achieve it.
An eventual relapse can cause us feelings of frustration and helplessness to the point of demoralizing us and causing us to throw in the towel.
Faced with a relapse, the best we can do is try to detect the possible negative emotional consequences that may invade us in those moments and fight them with all our strength, and then dedicate ourselves to regain the ground lost in the initial problem.
1. When you fall back into the old emotions that tormented you (anxiety, sadness, etc.), focus again on the thoughts and behaviors that you had already changed before improving and work on them again.
2. Don't stop thinking. Your ability to think is your greatest and most valuable tool. Think of realistic ideas that displace the ones that cause you so much anguish, in order to achieve more appropriate emotions.
3. Do not be afraid to take risks, yes, calculated. Don't be fearful but don't be reckless either. Do not give up the opportunities that arise for not taking some basic risk such as making a mistake or making a fool of yourself. Face what you fear and do it repeatedly, until it poses a challenge for you.
4. Avoid procrastination. Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today. Start right now with your tasks to fight your emotional disturbances. Don't fall into the trap of saying to yourself: "This week I'm very busy, I'll start next week" or "Now I'm very tired, I'll start tomorrow." It is wrong for others to deceive us, but it is even worse if we are the ones who deceive ourselves.
5. Be realistic. Accept the fact that the world is the way it is, regardless of how we would like it to be and work to find alternatives to your complaints and concerns if they are going to lead you nowhere..
6. Assume that you are the one who decides how to think, how to feel and how to act and it is not others or circumstances who decide..
7. Seek satisfactions and pleasures rationally. Try to find activities, hobbies, play sports, read, go for a walk, do volunteer work ... Anything that can give you personal satisfaction and that fills your life and that takes you out of the house. But beware, don't look for these activities fanatically either; It is not worth getting so involved in something that makes you put aside other things that are also important such as family, friends or rest.
8. If the opportunity arises, try to help other people with what you have learned. The fact of teaching others what we know makes that knowledge fixate on us with more intensity and fills us with strength to continue fighting..
And remember:
We are what we repeatedly do, therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit. Aristotle
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