Tips To Get Through Challenging Times: Seek Supportive Community

Going through a challenging time in your life can be really rough, and exhausting, especially if you tend to do things on your own and struggle to ask for help. There are a few things that you can do to help ease the burden of a challenging time in your life to help yourself manage or avoid burn out and lessen stress.

​Here is an ongoing series that can help you start to learn about constructing or reinforcing your foundation so that you are able to learn how to feel empowered to get through these times while building the ability to reduce or avoid burnout. 

Seek A supportive community 

Sometimes seeking support and community can feel intimidating. If it does, try breaking this step down into smaller steps. If you get stuck, building community is a great topic to take into a counselling session, or ask a trusted resourceful person in your life to help brainstorm. Try looking into different groups and communities that seem like a good fit.

If you are thinking “erm yeah, I am not so excited about being in a big group or community”, it doesn’t have to be big, it could be a very small community if you prefer smaller groups. You could even try an online community or group. I have heard of some people playing video games daily or weekly with a team, or a group and being on voice chat with each other being a source of connection and support. You could also opt to interact with people from the community on a one-on-one basis too. More than one community can be helpful if that feels right for you but you are not required to do more, or anything that feels overwhelming rather than supportive. 

Keep in mind, this is something that is a good fit for you rather than you trying to contort yourself to fit another situation. All aspects of this are up for your customization. If a community feels supportive and comfortable and that looks like 3 people to you, then that is the perfect community for you! 

If you feel stumped as to where to start looking for a like-minded community that would be a good fit, try some of these ideas to get you started.

A.  Online Community- Have a look at your hobbies, interests and values. What  causes do you feel passionate about? 

B.  Spiritual community - What are your spiritual beliefs? Even if your spiritual    practice is somewhat solitary, are there others that feel the same way? Have a look online, on community boards in your area, and/or ask people in your life if they know of anyone that seems to be a good fit for your beliefs.

C.  Hobbies - Do you have any hobbies that you feel passionate about? Have a look around to see if there are others that share your hobbies. Even if you just like to do something that others might not see as a hobby, like organization, there are others who spend their free time and enjoy that so I would count that as a hobby. A hobby is whatever activity you choose to do for pleasure, the possibilities are limitless.

D.  Start a club or group - If you aren’t seeing a group that seems to fit you, you could try starting a club of your own. This way you can customize it for exactly what you would like to be part of. Maybe you’d like a club of introverts that believe in something bigger than themselves but don’t want to define spirituality? Or possibly a club of philosophers that struggle with emotions but want a safe place to start to explore that? Maybe you are a busy mom and need to connect with other moms who are struggling with the same things as you. You can search just about any topic for groups online or in person, be creative in your search, you might be surprised at how many other people have the unique wants and needs that you do.

E.  Volunteering - If you find volunteering fulfilling, maybe your community is connected to this? There are many opportunities to volunteer across organizations and if there isn’t a specific space for volunteers in the community you want to be a part of you could ask them if they need or want any volunteers. Sometimes this is a really helpful way to check out or ease into a community without the relationship feeling forced.

This all can take a bit of trial and error to figure out what it is you need and want, and to find a good fit for a place where you feel accepted as you are. As you open up to considering the communities you have access to, gradually you will start to reinforce a stronger foundation and find others who also seem to have similar experiences and feelings. 

If you would like to work with a counsellor at Empathic Heart Counselling contact us here to get started on your journey to a solid foundation and support to use those life challenges as stepping stones to build the life you want to experience.