This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bowdoin chapter.

It’s just about that time of year again–– time to choose this summer’s job or internship, next year’s roommates and living situation, where or if you want to study abroad, and countless other decisions that only add to the loads of stress that conveniently pile up in the weeks before spring vacation. This time of year inevitably strains friendships and relationships and general sanity. What are you supposed to do when your three best friends decide to live together but there is no room for you to join? Or maybe you have to go abroad the opposite semester of someone you really care about. How will you cope with not seeing him or her for an entire year? How will you respond when you excitedly open the letter from the internship you’ve been dying to hear from, and the first words read, ‘You’re a great candidate… BUT…”

Simply put–– sometimes, things just don’t go our way. It can feel like we’re constantly taking two steps forward and one step back, never moving ahead with jobs, or roommate troubles or any of the other stress-inducing components of a Bowdoin student’s life. The question is, how are we supposed to react when it feels like no one’s on our ‘side’ or nothing’s going our way? Some might say hey, sh•• happens, take those lemons and make lemonade! But honestly, has that saying ever actually inspired anyone? In light of my annoyance with this overly used cliché, I decided to come up with a few pointers on steps you can actually take when life bursts your bubble…

1. Take A Breath… Count To Ten… And Think About It
When something bad happens to you, it is extremely helpful to take a step back and think about the implications of what happened. Ask yourself questions like: What is the problem I’m facing? What’s the worst possible thing that can happen to me as a result of this problem? Will this affect me for a week, a month, a year, ten years???

Often we forget to take a breath and reflect on our actual problem. As a result, we forget to realize that our daily issues probably won’t have much impact on our greater lives. Ok—maybe you have to live with people you don’t know for a semester, and yeah, that sucks. But when you take a step back, in the end, its four months of your life. Maybe you’ll find a few new friends in the process, and if not, the worst possible result only affects you for a short period of time. Taking a breath and reflecting is the best way to keep your problems in check.

2. Be Mad, Then Brush It Off
Obviously when things aren’t going our way, we have the right to be mad. At first, this might even be the best way to deal with the problem. Call your mom and complain, cry a little, scream in your pillow–– do what you have to do. Process your emotions and learn to consciously understand why you’re feeling this way. However, after you get it all out in the open, let it go! If you dwell on your problem and seem angry all the time, your friends, family, coaches and professors will be much less inclined to help you work towards a solution.

3. Take A Break
When things seem to get too out of hand, often the best thing to do is to give your self a break. Go for a jog, bake, take a nap, watch an episode of The Voice or last week’s Modern Family. Do something that makes you happy. Once you’ve done this, it will be much easier to objectively deal with your emotions and your situation.

4. See It As A Challenge To Overcome
Every experience worth having will inevitably come with obstacles along the way. If you see your problem as just another ‘hurdle,’ you will emerge from it a stronger person than before. See it as a battle with yourself. If you bear down and ‘win’ this battle, future problems will be much less likely to get you down.

5. Learn From It
Each issue we encounter and overcome provides us with new experiences and chances to learn. Ask yourself, what have I taken away from overcoming my problem? How can I apply these new lessons in the future? These new perspectives will give you more control over future issues so that giant mountain of a problem turns into an easily avoidable speed bump.

Next time things just aren’t going your way; think back to this ‘recipe’ to actually achieving the old adage of ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’ I bet your problem will find a much sweeter solution.

Photo credits:

When Life Gives You Lemons: Making the Best of Life’s Less Sweet Moments

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