Feeling off? Here are 13 must-know tips to help you bounce back

Everyone sometimes thinks: ‘I don’t feel well’. Sometimes you know that it will probably be over the next day, but it can also be structural.

At that point, it is first and foremost good to know that it is completely normal. Everyone struggles with these feelings sometimes.

You don’t have to be ashamed of what you feel.

If you think, “I don’t feel good,” you are probably overwhelmed by negative emotions. It is then easy to forget what else you need to remember.

To make things a little easier for you, we have listed 13 things for you here.

1. Seek help in time

Of course, everyone has a day when you wake up and think: ‘I don’t feel well’.

It only becomes a problem when you wake up with this thought very often. If it lasts longer than a week, you can no longer speak of a dip and it is time to think about seeking help.

That help does not always have to come from a professional source. Sometimes it can help to say the sentence: ‘I don’t feel well’ to your best friends.

Who knows, maybe your friends will have the same problems and you will eventually find a solution together. It may also happen that your friends unfortunately do not know how to help you.

That’s not bad at all. The fact that they are there for you is enough. Just saying that you don’t feel well can make a big difference for yourself.

The first step with any problem is always recognizing the problem and at least you have now done that.

You simply cannot solve everything on your own and fortunately you don’t have to. Enlist the help of someone else and give yourself the opportunity to solve your problems much faster than you thought possible.

2. Remember that you are not the only one who thinks: ‘I don’t feel well’

As mentioned before, everyone sometimes wakes up with the idea ‘I do n’t feel well ‘. It is impossible to feel good all the time.

So always remember that you are not the only one in the world who feels this way at the moment. Along with you, there are millions of others going through the same process.

The fact that you don’t know them doesn’t have to matter. Knowing in the back of your mind that you are not the only one struggling with these problems can sometimes be more than enough.

Try typing the words ‘I don’t feel well’ on the internet. You will soon find out that there are many articles like this one that discuss why you feel this way and what you can do about it.

It seems as if all these pieces were written especially for you, because they all describe exactly how you feel.

Maybe you can also connect with people online who feel the same way. That’s less scary than having to admit to your own friends that you’re not doing well, but you can still tell your story.

The possibilities online are endless and therefore there is no point in going through this alone.

Also Read: 17 Things That Will Make You Feel Unhappy

3. The solution is different for everyone

If you find some solutions to the “I’m not feeling well” issue through others or online, you’ll want to try everything right away.

Please note that not everything that works for someone else will also work for you. While one person can become super motivated by an hour of exercise, it can only make you more depressed.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take advice from anyone anymore. On the contrary. It just means that you should try as many different things as possible.

When you don’t feel good, you are inclined to give up quickly, which makes this extra difficult. Giving up is the last thing you should do in this situation.

When your first attempts at making yourself feel better fail, you may end up feeling even worse.

That’s not bad at all. Just skip a day and only start again when you feel you have enough energy. Even if that takes another two or three weeks, that is no problem at all.

One day you will find a solution that works for you. Before you know it, you will no longer wake up with the feeling of ‘I don’t feel well’.

4. Setbacks are part of life

You don’t always get what you want and you have to learn to accept that. Do you think ‘I don’t feel good’ because you feel like you have to deal with more setbacks than someone else?

Then I can tell you right away, girl, that’s not true. Okay, maybe you are having a harder time than the people around you right now.

It is indeed true that your colleague can make ends meet more easily with the same salary because she does not have to pay off student debt. That doesn’t mean she hasn’t faced any setbacks.

Everyone gets a turn when it comes to setbacks. You often don’t even know a quarter of someone’s life story.

Who knows how hard your colleague worked to pay off those debts. You have no idea what other aspects of her life might not have been so easy.

The fact that you think, “I don’t feel good” has nothing to do with anyone else. No one owes you anything. There is absolutely no point in being envious of others who seem to have it better.

In this way you will end up in a vicious circle where you always hold others responsible for the setbacks that you have to deal with yourself.

5. You are the one who decides whether you have the feeling of ‘I don’t feel good’ or not

Of course you can always ask others to help you when you think: ‘I don’t feel well’. But ultimately, feeling good about yourself is something you have to do yourself.

You first have to think about where your feeling comes from and then it is up to you to decide how you are going to solve that.

You also have to implement the solution yourself. Your friends can support you, but you are the one who has to push yourself to get results.

Think of it like running a marathon. Your friends can give you the right shoes, set up a training program for you and even literally walk next to you.

But ultimately it is your body that has to cross the line and you really have to do the hardest work yourself. If you want to feel good again and be happy, your fate is in your own hands.

That means you have some very tough moments ahead. Just like when you train for a marathon.

Remember that you have to work hard to cross that finish line, but that no one can take it away from you if you have made it. The prize is your own happiness and that is the most valuable prize in life.

Also Read: Higher Risk of Depression and Other Mental Illnesses

6. It’s okay to fail

The road from ‘I don’t feel good’ to ‘I feel good’ is a long one. Often a bit longer than you had planned in advance. It is important to consider why you feel this way.

Chances are you feel bad because you think you failed. You had very different expectations for this moment in your life than what reality looks like now.

You have reached a certain age, but not the goals you set for yourself. Professionally and personally, you feel you have failed.

Remember, it’s okay to fail. Failure makes you stronger and you will learn new life lessons.

You also need to adjust your definition of failure. Okay, you didn’t achieve the goals you set for yourself, but is that really a bad thing?

Are those goals still what you want in the first place or are you actually satisfied with all the opportunities you have created by making different choices?

You are the one who determines what failure is and it is okay to adjust that definition every now and then. Reevaluate everything and see if you really failed.

7. Think of the things you do have

It’s a typical attitude to think, “I don’t feel good” because you’re just focusing on everything you don’t have. You don’t have a home to buy and no relationship and that makes you feel bad.

What you forget is that you have enough money to go on holiday a few times a year and that your circle of friends is large enough to always take at least one person with you.

Be grateful for the things you do have instead of focusing on everything you don’t have. Gratitude is a very beautiful quality, but unfortunately it is quickly forgotten by people who think: ‘I don’t feel good’.

It’s an easy exercise. Every time you feel down about something you don’t have, think about all the things you do have.

You will soon find out that the feeling of ‘I don’t feel well’ may not be necessary at all. There are plenty of things in your life that are going very well.

Is that not enough? Then think about everything that lies ahead for you. For example, you work hard enough to get a nice promotion soon.

If you’re not in a relationship yet, that doesn’t mean it will never happen. Some things just take time and there will come a point where everything falls into place and you have everything your heart desires.

8. Comparing yourself to others is pointless

It’s easy to think, “I don’t feel good” when you constantly compare yourself to others.

First of all, you are often not in a position to really know what is going on in someone else’s life.

On social media everything often seems much nicer than it is and even your best friends often don’t dare to be completely honest with you.

There is no point in feeling good about yourself because you think someone else is feeling good or better.

That couple that you think has a perfect relationship? They probably argue more than anyone else. That friend who is always at every party? She probably cries herself to sleep every night because she is so lonely.

So don’t be misled by the idea you have of someone else. It is not healthy to let that determine your feelings about yourself.

You are the only one who decides whether you wake up in the morning with the feeling of: ‘I don’t feel well’. No one else.

Also Read: This Is How High-Functioning Depression Affects Your Romantic Relationship

9. To quickly get rid of the “I don’t feel good” feeling, don’t agree to less than you deserve

Sometimes you think ‘I don’t feel well’ for a reason. You think you feel this way because you’re not in a relationship, for example.

Many people want to solve this problem by getting into a relationship as quickly as possible. Of course that doesn’t work.

First of all, it takes time to build a relationship with someone and it takes a long time before you find the right person.

A hasty decision like this isn’t going to solve anything. The same applies, for example, when you take a job in order to get to work as quickly as possible.

Sometimes it is better to wait until you find a job that really suits you. This way you can be sure that you will stay happy and not wake up one morning and think: ‘I don’t feel well’.

Never agree to less than you deserve and need. You know what will make you happy in the long run. Things that will only make you happy now have no added value.

Do not underestimate your self-worth. It’s better to aim for more than you’re worth than to agree to much less than you’re worth. Dare to be a little arrogant and self-confident.

10. It’s totally okay to be alone

Not being in a relationship has already been mentioned several times in this article as a reason to think: ‘I don’t feel well’.

In today’s world you have to endure a lot if you are still alone above a certain age.

Your relatives ask you every Christmas why you don’t have a boyfriend yet. How is it possible that such a nice girl is still alone?

After a while you start to believe that. The fact that you are still alone is not good, even if it is a conscious choice.

That’s why I’m here to tell you once again that it’s completely okay to be alone. You don’t need a relationship to feel good and it is not because you are not in a relationship that you now think ‘I don’t feel good’.

Don’t let anyone tell you how to live your life. You only start a relationship when the time is right for you. Maybe that will be next week, maybe in ten years, who knows.

Take your time. This way you avoid making hasty decisions and you will thank yourself for that later.  

11. Think about your future and your past

If you are feeling down and think: ‘I don’t feel good’, it is always wise to think about the future.

No doubt there have been times in your life when you thought, “I’m not feeling well,” and then you always bounced back.

This time too you will recover. Nothing is forever and your future has so many wonderful things ahead of it. You will meet endless new people and learn new things.

What your life looks like today could be completely different a year from now. Take an example from your own history. Take a look at where you were a year or two ago and how far you’ve come since then.

Those possibilities still exist today. There is a very good chance that in a while you will feel much better and that a large part of your problems will have resolved themselves.

Life is full of ups and downs and some things take time. Hold on to what the future has to offer and let that thought carry you through this difficult time.

You never know what your future has in store for you. So don’t just give up.

12. You have plenty of time, but not enough to waste thinking ‘I’m not feeling well’

When you think, “I don’t feel well,” on the one hand, you need to give yourself enough time to figure out how to tackle this problem.

On the other hand, you should also remember not to waste too much time feeling bad. You can use this time in a much more productive way.

Sitting at home and doing nothing because you feel bad makes no sense at all. You will achieve exactly nothing with it and it will certainly not change the situation.  

So think for yourself what a reasonable deadline is. If you just have the feeling of ‘I don’t feel well?’, then sometimes a day of doing nothing is more than enough.

Have you had that feeling for much longer ? Then you probably need a little more time. In this case, you know what is and is not good for you.

Set a clear deadline for yourself. For example, agree with yourself that you will start tackling your problems next Monday.

That way you really have a stick behind the door and you can no longer make excuses for why you shouldn’t do something.

Also Read: Depression Partner Repulsion: Why Does It Happen?

13. There is more to life than work

Many people who think ‘I don’t feel well’ are too stressed by their work. They find it difficult to find a balance between a successful career and a successful social life.

Too much of their time is spent on work. Sometimes they even continue working at home in their free time.

This starts very innocently by answering a few emails at the weekend, but then turns into working at home for hours. That is at the expense of the other fun things in life.

When you get to that point, it’s good to remember that there is so much more to life than just work.

Of course it is important to have enough income to sustain yourself, but free time is just as important.

So take a close look at your work. Is it worth waking up every morning with the feeling of ‘I don’t feel good’, or is it better to choose yourself and work less?

See if you can spare part of your income or if you can work less elsewhere for the same money. You spend a large part of your time at work and it’s a shame if it doesn’t make you feel good.

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