A few days ago, I took a personality test that told me I was a “defender.” Defenders want to do things right but can quickly become overwhelmed. Well, that kind of suits me.
Nevertheless, I know how important it is to build resilience and deal with negative feelings (here‘s a short article about resilience), so I do the following things when I feel sad and/or stressed.
- Meditation. I have a special cushion and a scented candle, and I use those when I listen to Meditation Mountain on Spotify. Guided meditations are my preferred type.
- Journaling. I have a gratitude journal where I write five things I’m grateful for that day. Every once in a while, I read previous entries, as they help me remember great things (and small things) for which I’m grateful. I also have a regular journal where I write about my feelings and the things that happened during the day. The regular journal is especially useful when I get stuck or paralyzed.
- Video games. I give myself time to do things I enjoy. Some weeks, I’m so busy that I don’t play anything, so I try to enjoy every minute that I can dedicate to video games, as I know they are not common, and they help me relax (a lot).
- Extra: Biking. Even if I’m just an amateur, I enjoy biking around Bogota. I should do this more.
- Extra 2: Talking with people I love. I am not a fan of talking about myself (ironically, I have a blog), but I am lucky to have people I can count on and share my feelings with. Isolating ourselves does no good. Reach out.
Coping with negative feelings is hard, so I hope you can heal and recover from all the bad things in your life. I hope we get more resilient and (why not?) happy.
PS: Let me share with you a funny compilations of funny animals (and some mean animals) so you can smile for a while 🙂 The video doesn’t belong to me but to The Pet Collective.
About the Author:
I’m Astrid, a biologist who made a career shift to become a virtual assistant and an accountability partner. My journey from the world of science to customer service and freelancing has given me a unique perspective on life, and I sometimes share it here on WordPress.
Do you need a capable and reliable accountability partner? Contact me on Fiverr or LinkedIn.
Latest posts
-
Bloganuary 2026. Jan 12. Let me tell you about Popetas.
Quala is a company that produces and distributes a delicious, ready-to-consume popcorn called Popetas. This popcorn is glorious. The mixed caramel-and-butter version is especially delightful. It combines sweet and salty snacks in the same package… Read more
-
Bloganuary 2026. Jan 9. My mission is to remain financially independent 🙂 while helping others!
Last year, I shared an honest confession on how I thought I was entitled to be supported by my parents. I still feel ashamed about it. Luckily, several years ago, I realized that was unacceptable… Read more
-
Bloganuary 2026. Jan 8. I’m more optimistic about having a very long life.
Last year, I wrote a quite pessimistic blog post about living for a long time. Now I think that if we take care of ourselves and our bodies, living a long life is actually a… Read more
Astrid Helps | Accountability partner | Biologist| 
Leave a reply to My biggest challenges for 2026 and how I will overcome them :) – Astrid Helps | Accountability partner | Cat lover | Biologist| Cancel reply