You Can ’t Always Get What You Want

Children sometimes have meltdowns when they don’t get what they want. Some adolescents can feel destitute when their wishes aren’t granted. When you feel confident about your plans and they don’t turn out the way you hoped, what is your response? As we run into bumps and storms in life, we may need to detour, delay, or completely cancel our plans. When we were young, we may have used words such as “It’s not fair,” and soon enough we found out this was true more often than not. Still, we protest, get mad, and blame others or ourselves for not obtaining our desires. When this happens, many of us get entangled with “should’ve,” “could’ve” “would’ve” type thoughts. Have you noticed the results of doing that? Those unhelpful thoughts continue to fuel our emotions, and we most likely continue to suffer because we are stuck in a time and event that never took place. When we are unable to adapt to change, we inadvertently lengthen our suffering and miss meaningful moments. Do you feel like your rigid thinking patterns don’t allow you to accept change without becoming angry, sad, anxious, or overwhelmed? Is your inflexibility leading you to resist the unavoidable pain that often results in misery? Instead, consider the acronym PAUSE when you don’t get what you want. Psychological flexibility can be your focus when things don’t go your way. In that very moment that you didn’t get what you desired, you can choose to be teachable and curious. Ask...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Habits Happiness Holiday Coping Mindfulness Self-Help Coping Skills Disappointment Emotion Regulation Failure self-soothing Source Type: blogs