By Sherrie Campbell
SherrieCampbellPhD.com

Emotional endurance is the ability to stay strong under challenging circumstances.  Life is designed to present challenge after challenge demanding us to stretch physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Without these challenges and unexpected shifts in life we would not grow. What we learn, when we stay true to ourselves, regardless of our circumstances, is that whatever is removed from our lives is only removed so we can find a new direction.

6 Ways of Establishing Emotional Endurance

1. Think Big:  Whatever it is we desire or yearn for, say "yes" to it. When being challenged we must start to envision a new dream for our reality. We must be realistic about the work it will take to get there. If we have a passion for something and we believe it is our destiny to achieve it, then we can do it - even if that dream is to leave a relationship to be happy, to survive a breakup and move on, or to build the career of our dreams. Think Big.

2.  Journal:  Writing helps us find direction. It helps us get to know ourselves deeply. It is organizing to our mind and emotions bringing them together instead of them operating miles apart going in all different directions. The heart is slower than the mind, so when we write we put these two mechanisms on the same page working in conjunction with each other.

3.  Visualize Progress:  When we have an idea or a vision to follow, we need a structure created to back it up. The vision itself will naturally create the goals which will lead to us successfully achieving what we want our new life to look like. The mind is extremely powerful, so create the vision and live the daily goals to get there. Soon, you will be living your new direction.

4.  Analyze Beliefs: We have to examine the beliefs which hold us back, look at our fears and see how we have been living these fears keeping us feeling small. Take every new change as an opportunity to undo and prove negative beliefs to be false. We need to jump outside of what we are used to and scare ourselves a little in an effort to build confidence and resilience.

5.  Action: The antidote to despair is action. To have endurance we need to be in consistent action, especially in the face of adversity. We need to put faith behind our action showing we believe things will be better than before if we keep working hard and moving. 

6.  Positive Attitude: Maintaining a positive attitude and putting a crisis in its place is key.  We can choose how much drama and negative attention we give to our challenge. A positive attitude gives our pain a purpose. This is a gift that we will find priceless in creating our new life. 

Our ability to succeed in life and in the face adversity comes from inside. When our external world has fallen apart, it does not have to define us. We must refuse to be defined by our adversarial outer world where the chaos is. We need to go inside and pull from the power we have within to comfort ourselves, adjust to each moment, make a new plan and take the steps necessary to create our new direction. We cannot find this new path staying stuck in non-movement still wanting what was in the past.

Little Life Message: Resilience is most crucial in the face of failure and disappointment.

Dr. Sherrie Campbell is the author of Loving Yourself and is a licensed Psychologist with more than nineteen years of clinical training and experience. She provides practical tools to help people overcome obstacles to self-love and truly achieve an empowered life. Click here to get her free article on Five Ways to Make Love the Common Ground in Your Communication.   She is a featured expert on a variety of national websites and has a successful practice in Southern California. Receive free insights from Sherrie and to be involved in her Facebook community of others looking to improve their relationship. For more information visit SherrieCampbellPhD.com.  Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.