Crises Are Life: How to Live Through Them Instead of Fighting 0 10

I sat there, staring into space and unable to move. The only thought in my head was, "When will all this end?"

For several days, my husband and I tried to cope with the sudden financial crisis: our income had decreased fivefold, travel plans had collapsed, and the future seemed anxious and unstable. That evening, my life felt like a continuous chain of overcoming crises of varying durations and severity. I asked myself, "Will it ever be easy and peaceful? When will real life begin?"

I remembered that psychology teaches us that a person's psyche goes through its crises at all stages of development, and that is normal. There are eight of them throughout life. But why does it seem like an endless series of tense trials?

Life as a Chain of Crises

Let’s recall childhood: first, adapting to the world, learning to manage the body, developing a personality, and the need to assert one’s boundaries. Then kindergarten, school, rules that seemed endlessly strict. You wait until you’re fifteen — and life will begin.

With each new stage, new demands arise: preparing for exams, first love, studying at university, work, financial independence. Even after reaching adulthood, there is a sense of limitation: responsibility, obligations, loans, relationships, raising children. And it seems that life is a constant wait for the moment when you can finally be free.

Even retirees sometimes feel sadness: worries about children, financial obligations, health, social roles. Life turns into a series of anxieties and tensions, and joy becomes scarce.

Finding a Way Out of the Emotional Deadlock

I decided to stop waiting for the "moment of happiness" and asked myself, "How can I make life fulfilling here and now?"

I wrote a list of resources that help me feel alive and fulfilled:

For the body:

• Contact with myself and my feelings, listening to my desires.
• More sensations, fewer thoughts.
• Crying and laughing if I want to.
• Morning exercises, walks.
• Eating favorite foods, but with a sense of moderation.

In learning and activities:

• Learning from the best.
• Moving towards goals in small steps.
• Delegating and controlling less.

In relationships:

• Being fully in contact with loved ones.
• Not escaping into gadgets and thoughts.
• Asking for help.
• Loving children, thanking myself and those around me.
• Protecting myself from the inner critic.

In personal meanings:

• Living from love, not fear.
• Choosing pleasure even among routine tasks.
• Traveling and discovering new things.
• Reading, studying, trying new things.
• Being brave, valuing myself, dreaming, and letting go.
• Watching sunrises, filling myself with nature and its energy.

How It Works

After writing the list, I felt lighter: I saw my supports and resources that would help me endure any difficulties. These tools help me live in the here and now, manage my emotions, and maintain inner balance.

Two months have passed since that difficult evening. I try to use the resources daily; sometimes I manage to complete the entire list, and sometimes I focus on just one. This has helped me weather the financial "storm," stay in contact with loved ones, not transfer tension onto them, and adapt to new conditions. As a result, we have become stronger and closer to each other.