Is Your Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

People sometimes ask me whether I am a person who looks at a glass half empty or half full. To be honest, sometimes I am lucky if I am able to see the glass at all. The way we view a challenging situation highly affects the way we react to that situation. It affects the decisions we take regarding how we go about dealing with it. Unfortunately I am one of those people whose initial reaction to a challenging situation is one of paralysing fear, of confusion and feelings of helplessness. Before, I used to find myself spiraling into a pit of darkness when I encounter unexpected hard situations. Slowly, through therapy and training, I learnt that different perspectives as to how I view a challenging situation determine the way I look at the situation at hand.

It was not easy to transition to a more grounded reaction to a crisis and sometimes I still find myself panic and lose all logical thinking when something threatens my peaceful way of life. But throughout the years I learnt skills to manage crisis better and today I find myself sharing them with my clients in therapy. When clients ask how they should approach the initial creeping panic, I invite them to breathe. Taking deep breaths for some time will immediately help in calming down. It provides the space needed to tune the brain back into functioning logically. It is also suggested to leave the place that is creating this anxiety and go somewhere where one can relax and focus on the crisis at hand. Telling one self that everything is going to be fine also helps a lot. This is because at a vulnerable point, one may need reassurance and this helps to keep the anxiety in check and put the crisis into perspective.

The next step might be challenging, especially to those who initially resort to panic and worry when crisis arises but it is definitely doable. When one is able to look at a crisis from a third party perspective one is able to see different sides of a challenging situation. By viewing a crisis from the outside, one can metaphorically put it on a mental scale and logically determine the weight one should assign to this problem. By zeroing in on the issue, one is able to view it from different angles thus being able to find different ways of how to deal with the present crisis.

Having different perspectives may also result in defining positive and negative aspects to the situation, a realization that helps us switch thought patterns pertaining to finding oneself in hot waters. Simply put, this helps identify our automatic negative thoughts and replace them with facts and more positive perspectives to the current situation. It helps us choose the best plan of action when tackling a critical situation and choose the best outcome possible. It enables us to come up with a grounded plan rather than a defragmented one which makes us feel all over the place and rather vulnerable. Breaking down the huge challenge into tiny doable tasks also enhances our self confidence and belief that we are able to tackle this situation in a steady pattern. We are then able to celebrate small victories which urge us to keep going and to look at the glass half full rather than half empty.

Remember that every storm results in a rainbow and even though the process is difficult, it is achievable especially if you are surrounded by people who are ready to support you throughout the storm. Always remember that you are never alone. In therapy, I always remind my clients that I am walking this journey with them and will help them cross the bridge when we come to it. Never be ashamed to reach out for help when needed. We are there to support you and never to judge. Remember that facing challenges and crisis is experienced by several and most make it through. So never lose help that one day you will be able to view that glass half full.