5 Things You Can Do To Deal With Unexpected Things in Life

As you probably know from experience, life often throws unexpected things your way. While you can't control what happens to you, you can control your response to these situations. Here are five tips on how to deal with the unanticipated events in life.

Accept That Unexpected Things Will Occur

From minor annoyances such as missing the bus to more life-changing events such as an unplanned pregnancy, unanticipated events can and will happen to you in the future. However, accepting that these situations will occur is the first step in being adequately prepared to respond to them. Welcoming the possibility of unexpected events rather than constantly living in fear of them will better equip you to tackle them head-on when they arrive.

Maintain a Positive Attitude

Not all unexpected events have to be negative. Receiving a big surprise can be overwhelming at first, causing your mind to spiral into negative thinking and picture worst-case scenarios. However, some unanticipated events can actually be a blessing in disguise. For example, losing your job can seem like a negative at first, but it actually may allow you to find a new career that is more lucrative or that you enjoy more. If you never lost your job, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to search for something more fulfilling. Therefore, it's important that you keep a positive outlook on life and don't always assume the worst.

Prepare When Possible

Although you can't prepare yourself for every unexpected event in life, there are a few steps you can take to ensure that you'll be ready to handle minor unpredictabilities. For example, to prepare for medical emergencies, have a first-aid kit in your home, car and purse. For other common events, don't delay servicing your car to avoid car breakdowns, keep your keys in the same place that you always do so you won't forget where they are and regularly take inventory of your fridge to make sure that you have all the ingredients necessary for a dish. If possible, formulate a back-up plan in case your first one fails. This can allow you to stay calm instead of falling into a state of panic.

Think Before You Act

Stopping to think before you act can let you to choose the best way to respond to a situation. There's a difference between reacting, which is mainly an immediate and uncontrollable biological reflex, and responding, which requires a conscious choice based on logic and evaluation. Your immediate reaction to someone cutting you off in traffic may be anger or irritation, but giving yourself the time to think before you lash out can permit you to formulate alternative explanations for why this event ocurred. For example, the driver may not have been paying attention and didn't intentionally cut you off. Practicing meditation and mindfulness regularly can improve your self-control and discipline, which can allow you to think before you act and therefore better respond to an unexpected situation.

Trust in Your Past Experiences

You've gotten through every difficult situation in your life so far. It was probably an unpleasant experience, but you survived it. Therefore, there's no reason to believe that you won't get through this unexpected event as well. Trust that you're capable and strong enough to handle these incidents. When you're in a difficult and unanticipated situation, ask yourself how you responded in similar ones in the past to give yourself a template on how to behave in this case. However, if the circumstance is like nothing you've ever experienced, believe that you can get through it because you've done so with every other challenging event thus far.

While some incidents are unavoidable even if you prepare for them, you can evade or mitigate most of life's surprises if you develop an adequate plan. These five tips can help you to be ready when an unexpected event occurs, or control your response if this situation is unpreventable.