When possible, go into difficult situations with a plan, especially one you’ve worked through with a trusted friend or mental health professional. And if you need to, step away. While you don’t want to avoid emotions chronically, that doesn’t mean you have to constantly force yourself to feel them, either. Put your effort into things you can control. One of my favorite ways to be okay when things are not okay for an extended period of time is to redirect my efforts to stuff I can directly control.
