When Things Don’t Go Your Way How Should We React?

Hi loves! How do we cope when things don’t go your way? Recently, I’ve had things go the complete opposite then what I was expecting. I contemplated a career change and was offered the position. Once I really thought about it and weighed the pros and cons, I couldn’t accept it. I wanted a new job, wanted a change, but was it the right move for me? I went on a trip to LA recently and my first day was, well let’s just say, NOT GREAT. Things happen, but what can we do to overcome them? Here are my tips on trying to overcome when things don’t go your way. 

Breathe:

I’ve learned sometimes you can’t control things. For example, when I was in Los Angeles and our first day seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong. You can read more about it here in my LA City Guide. By the end of the day, I was so annoyed and upset with things I could not control, it almost made me even annoyed with going to LA.

My friend passed out on the car ride back to the hotel, which was probably for the best. I had a moment to just breathe and listen to the radio for the whole ride back. I cleared my head and just said “I can’t control these things, don’t let it ruin your trip.”

Vent:

Sometimes you just need to vent all your frustrations out into the world. That’s why I love my family and friends. They are always there to listen to you. Sometimes, they can provide an outsiders view on your thoughts. Other times, they can just be there to listen and let you vent away.

Venting to be just is an outlet to help me feel better. Sometimes we have to just put the words into existence to HEAR how dumb you sound. When we arrived to the hotel, I called my parents at night and told them what happened our first day in LA. They said okay, well its only day 1 and I agreed. They told me not to let it hinder my trip.

Go With The Flow:

What else can you do? Sometimes things are out of your control, so just go with flow. Why stress about things out of your control? Instead of maybe doing dinner and a movie? Why not just go to dinner and then grab drinks? You can’t make an appointment, call and try to reschedule. If you’re on a trip and your first day went horrible. Just go to bed and get the day done with and wake up refreshed for tomorrow. Use every hour of the next day to do something. 

Laugh:

There are moments in life when things don’t go your way. Things can be bad, good, or even just a good memory in the future. So why don’t you just laugh about it? Our first day in LA, the next day we were still pretty annoyed with the situation. Now? Honestly, it is just a funny memory. I honestly die laughing every time I tell the story.

Laughing is the best dose of medicine! In the moment, things seem bad or get you upset, but will it later on? Don’t let things you can’t control, control your actions. You’re in charge of how you overcome that. So laugh it off then or now, but think maybe one day in the future it will just be a good story to share. 

Move On:

Finally, my best piece of advice when things don’t go your way is to just move on. I said it before, we CANNOT CONTROL these things at all. Don’t let it CONTROL YOUR ACTIONS! Move on. Whether you just take a moment to breathe, vent it out, rethink the situation, or just laugh it out, eventually you’ll have to just move on.

Once you let what happened go, you can move onto the next opportunity. I wanted a new job desperately, I wanted to change careers quickly. Traveling has always been a passion and I applied to what I thought was a dream position for me. Even went through all the interview process with them. I even got the offer. 

My parents supported my decision but wanted me to weigh the pros and cons. My friends as well. Once I made the list, it honestly did FEEL RIGHT. What I thought was my dream job, wasn’t. I was super upset and disappointed. I moved on and started writing more on my blog. Focusing more on my social media. My ideal job is to be able to create content to share with the world and not have a demanding 9-5 job with it. But baby steps right?

In the end, things happen. Don’t stress about the small stuff. Things go always go your way, if they did our lives would be WAY less eventful. Things happen for a reason, I believe. Let it happen, because one day you may just end up laughing about it. All you can do is just breathe, vent, go with the flow and laugh. You can’t control anything except YOURSELF. Don’t let when things don’t go your way to control your actions. Live your life. We only get this one, so live it to the max. 

XOXO

Karen GIuliana