Sometimes life can feel like a chapter out of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events". There may be a theme to the events, or your challenges may seem random. This rather overwhelming state can appear to be an endless swamp that will entrap you, but in the end it seldom turns out to be that way after all. In the meantime, though, slogging is sometimes overwhelming. Here are three tips about how to get through this kind of time:

1) Think about other times in your life when you were discouraged. How long did they last? How did you resolve things, or did time just sort them out for you?

2) Detach. Step back from the fatalistic story about what is going on, even it it is as compelling as a train wreck. In Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" the most sticky and uncomfortable of journeys were in the end tests that encouraged personal growth in the characters.

3) Don't do it all alone. Call friends, see a therapist, go to self-help meetings or follow a spiritual path more closely. Suffering is often lessened from something as simple as talking to another person.

To you in Your Journey,

Cheryl Deaner, LMFT 36764