There are some days, as we do LIFE, suddenly–out of nowhere . . .

Ka-boom!

–Photo credit: Wikipedia

YOU hit a WALL!

Not a real wall, thankfully, but the wall that takes all the courage out of you and leaves you muttering, “Who, in bloody hell put up this wall??” The thing is, this accident can occur at any time, to anyone and usually the victim is clueless about the wall being right in front of him or her.

For example, the other day, at a yoga class that, truth-be-told, I sporadically attend because, well–I’m lazy and okay, so there’s another fault I seriously need to work on–this yoga acquaintance casually tells me as we are doing the yoga pose called the Downward Dog, that she had what I would call the,

Ka-boom, Crash of the Century!

She is now trying to put encouragement back into her life, after her 911 call in to the ambulance service to check out what she thought was a heart attack or stroke coming on.

As the ’cute’ (her description) ambulance person checked all her vitals, he looked straight into her starry eyes and said, “Lady, do you have a history of emotional breakdowns?”

Ka-boom!!

“No, my emotions have never staged a revolution, never! I thought it was a stroke or a heart attack coming on. I couldn’t think, breathe, drive and I felt so funky!” cried my friend to the ‘cute’ ambulance person.

Naturally, you know my friend was given some medicine to help get her back to a more balanced reality until she could drive herself over to her doctor‘s appointment for further evaluations. However, you and I both know, even with proper medicine, recovery from emotional wall crashes can leave you in an upheaval for days and finding encouragement takes time and effort.

As we transitioned to the yoga Eagle Pose, my friend suggested the following ways she is rebuilding her own wall of encouragement and thought I should pass it on to others who may have crashed and would like some simple suggestions.

Here are the simply charming do-it-yourself guide to recovery after a Ka-boom wall crash:

Write on your Wall

Every day at least once, write down five things you are either grateful for or been blessed with. It can be as simple as having a glass of cool, clean glass of water or being grateful for the gift of sight or hearing. If you can’t think of five, just write at least one item on your list.

“Be thankful in all circumstances…” 1 Thessalonians 5:13

Seek a few companionship to your Wall

My yoga friend realized quickly how destructive it was to depend exclusively on her live-in partner for emotional support. Because her partner left for a week on a business trip, leaving her all alone in the house without even a pet to fuss over, somehow, discouraging thoughts began to happen and …now; she is looking for a puppy.

It’s a big world out there…go out and have fun!

Exercise on your Wall

Wisdom from Legally Blonde’s main character, Elle:

“Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.”

Yoga, running, walking, Pilates, Zumba, whatever can get you to move and groove…do IT!

You own your Wall

That’s right, you own and support your own wall! Please, do NOT forget this!!  Remember, Ka-booms will happen and we must learn to encourage ourselves from time to time because sometimes, when we crash, despite how frantically we search for help from our friends or loved ones, every person may be unavailable and we are left to ourselves to heal.

Believing in yourself NEVER goes out of style! ~Legally Blonde quote~

Go get ‘em tiger!

Have you got any other ideas to help build encouragement after a big Ka-boom?