Dealing with hardship

Frank, a university student, receives 500 cedis as a monthly allowance from his parents. He makes sure that he spends every cedi before the end of the month, but most of his colleagues advise him to save. He says it isn’t important. After National Service, Frank has nothing to his name regarding savings. An unfortunate event happens, and he loses his parents in a car accident. He was evicted from his home when the rent was due, as he couldn’t pay. Now he is faced with the hardships of life. He gets angry easily and vents his anger on people who come his way. He now lives every day regretting. How did he find himself in such a situation? Continue reading to find out more.

What is hardship?

Hardship, in simple language, is severe suffering or deprivation. It makes individuals unable to acquire what they desire; it limits them. It can also be said to be a state where your life is in the lowest position or an unpleasant state.

Causes of hardship

Hardship can be attributed to many situations, but we will look at two.
1. Natural occurrences: natural occurrences like disasters and sudden deaths may push an individual into unexpected difficulties. A natural disaster like an earthquake displaces people to a new environment where they are forced to start life afresh with nothing. People may also land in hardship as a result of death. Death comes unexpectedly, and those who are not well prepared for the death of their support persons may fall into great hardship.
2. Avoidable situations: some circumstances that may land an individual into hardship are avoidable. Examples include unnecessary spending, impulse buying and indiscipline with resources. Individuals may spend and waste their resources without caution and may run into unexpected difficulties.

Effects of hardship

1. Behavioral problems: hardships are unexpected crises, and an individual may not be able to cope with them. When faced with hardship, some people develop hostile behaviours by shying away from the people questioning them. Some turn to displace their anger on anyone who tries to care and ask them about their misfortune.
2. Risk for increased mental disorders: people turn to handle crises differently. Most people find it difficult to adjust to hardship and develop very dangerous behaviours like alcoholism, smoking, and the like, putting them at risk of developing a mental disorder.
3. Physical health problems: Some people may resort to overthinking, drinking and engaging in deadly acts, leading to some medical conditions. The most common is high blood pressure which may come about due to an unhealthy lifestyle like stress, overthinking and alcoholism.

How to get out of hardship.

Getting out of hardship is not as easy as it may sound. But with dedication and discipline, one may be able to get out successfully. A few ways to come out of hardship include;
1. Practicing acceptance: hardships, as mentioned earlier, are unexpected and actually unwanted by anyone but to be able to get out successfully. One needs to accept the fact that they are faced with that challenge to be able to make a move to change their present situation.
2. Reach out to others: most people in times of hardship turn to coil in and redraw from society, but that should not be the case. In times of difficulties, reach out to people, seek advice, accept friendships and do not shy away from the crowd. This will make emerging from hardship easier as you may learn how to make a change.
3. Invest in yourself or your education: a crisis period is not the time to neglect yourself. In hard times people tend to forget that you need your body to fight and cause a change, so get enough rest, eat well and take care of your body well. Also, educate yourself on the latest trends and how to do things to pave your way through easily.
4. Stay motivated: in times of difficulty, do not lose hope. Hope never disappoints. Find ways to motivate yourself every day and stay focused. Do not lose track of your current situation and the need to make a change. Have the dying need to cause a change.
5. Let go of the need to control: holding on, they say, is best but sometimes letting go does more good than harm. When faced with hardships, try as much as possible to let go of the past. Only look at the past as a reason to make a move to cause change.

Conclusion

Prosperity is not without many fears and disasters, and adversity is not without comfort and hopes (Francis Bacon). Hardships are no one’s desire, but they can crawl up at our least expected moments. When they do, it’s up to us to let it make or unmake us, never give up in the hardiness but buckle up, face it and remember, never give up, never ever.