We all have our own challenges and difficult emotions to face.  Happily, we are all born with skills to face these challenges, and these skills can be developed if we pay attention to them.  Regardless, the magnitude of the challenges, we can apply our skills. None of us wants to be overwhelmed and let our emotions overwhelm us, snowballing and getting to heavy to bear.  None of us wants to land in a seemingly dark and hopeless place where we feel like giving up altogether.

How can we then navigate difficult emotions skillfully and prevent the situation where things start to bite the dust? Here are 3 emotional self-care tips for you!

1. Accept your humanness

Many of us set unreal expectations for ourselves. Without noticing, we become our harshest critic and greatest enemy when things go bad. The reality is, things do not always go our way - there will be frustrations, losses, defeats, mistakes and other unfortunate events in life. This is the human condition, a reality shared by all of us. So be okay with feeling what you feel and be wise in how you respond to it.

2. Offer yourself compassion

Having compassion for yourself is really no different than having compassion for others. Imagine for a moment, the things you would do and words you wouldl say for a friend in need. Now, offer the same actions and words of comfort to yourself when you are having a difficult time or notice something you don’t like about yourself.

Here are some kind words you can offer yourself:

• “It’s okay to make mistakes. I’m only human.  Everyone I know has made mistakes. Let’s learn from them and give it another shot again.”

• “What a wonderful thing to imagine that, I am alive, and I have done many things well, and many things with very good intentions.”

• “I can bear this, I am strong and I a alive.  Tomorrow is another day. Live and learn!”

3. Practice gratitude

You may have already come across this several times in different articles. Yet the practice of gratitude is so often overlooked, especially when we feel overwhelmed in life. Practicing gratitude can be simple and fun. Try this for the next 30 days and experience the shift in you.

Step 1: Allow 1 thing to come into your awareness that you can be grateful about at this moment.

Step 2: Take a moment to embrace this warm feeling of gratitude.

Step 3: Pen down the 1 thing you are grateful for. There is magic in writing things down.

Do these 3 steps over and over again until it becomes a habit. Soon, you will start to see greatness even in the darkest moments of your life. Make gratitude your attitude (:

This is a blog collaboration project between NowHere and Samaritans of Singapore to offer key insights and practical skills as preventive measures towards suicidal thoughts.