I don’t know about you; for the past few months many of my clients and friends have been experiencing many obstacles, set-backs and challenges and as a result have been feeling very low, depressed, frustrated and/or angry. I include myself in this list so this week I thought I would talk about it because it’s normal to feel like this from time to time.

At times we can feel like there is no hope; no way out; no way through or no solution. At times like this it can be tempting to want to end our pain. I know first-hand how this feels and I’ve had it confirmed lately from many in my network.

Spiritual teachers tell us that the world/planet is shifting and changing so it’s natural that we would feel out of sync. It’s to be expected that we will experience challenges and feel like we are out of flow.

It’s one thing to know that we are normal but what do we do to help ourselves navigate through this choppy uncomfortable time?

For me, it was keeping a promise. Ross and I promised each other 50 years of happy marriage. We’re just over half way and no matter how bad I thought things were or how anxious I felt about the future, I committed to my promise.

What’s your reason? What’s your why that will pull you through? What have you committed to? What could you commit to if you haven’t yet done so?

Another thing that gets in our way is our insistence on knowing and controlling the “How”. This always intrigues me because we know from neuroscience and spirituality that our job is to focus on the “what” and the “why” and leave the “how” to the universe or God or spirit or a higher consciousness (whatever term you use). Too often we get stuck in having to know the details. This only serves to frustrate us and prolong the pain.

I understand that at times it can be challenging to have faith and belief and yet that’s exactly what we must have if we are to move forward. Dr. Wayne Dyer wrote a book about it titled “You’ll See it When You Believe It”. Recently I read another of his books, “Wishes Fulfilled; Mastering the Art of Manifesting”.

One of the most important points I took from the book was the fact that our subconscious mind handles about 96% of all that we undertake in life and that the last 5 minutes before you go to sleep are the most important 5 minutes of our day. Dyer writes, “In this brief portion of your day, you are going to tell your subconscious mind how you feel and what wishes God is to fulfill upon awakening from your deep slumber. This five-minute segment of time in your bed, about to enter into your subconscious and marinate for the next eight hours or so, is the most crucial segment of your entire 24 hour day”.

He continues by instructing us that there is one question we must ask ourselves as we get closer and closer to dropping off into the unconsciousness of sleep – “If my wishes were realized, how would it feel right here right now in my body? Stay with that thought until you begin to feel your body shift into what that feels like. This is not an empty exercise – it is a programming tool for reteaching your subconscious mind to act on what you intend to manifest, rather than on what you are worried, angry, or fearful about.”

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or lost or without hope, do your best to implement the two strategies above: reconnecting to your why and asking yourself how it would feel when you have manifested whatever it is that you want.

Let go of the “how” and know that feeling less than positive from time to time is both natural and normal.