'That's life.' is a phrase, that is said often.

Life is not always very nice...

For example, I was walking past a group of people eating iced buns and one decided it would be a good idea to throw his at his friend behind me, which of course I appreciated, however the beverage missed the intended target and hit me right in the centre of the neck (quite loudly, I must add) and as the event was witnessed by over 50 people I had to face food being flung my way for the rest of the day.

This is a very minor offence, and life has given me worse days, but this got me thinking. In such situations, where life hits you: maybe metaphorically, maybe physically, maybe both, how should we react?

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This is, of course, the way that most of us would like to act. But for the majority, including myself, this is probably unrealistic and maybe even unnatainable. But if you can, I applaud you (*applause*)

It is achievable with experience, a strong mind and a good sense of balance

You may trip and/or stumble with the hit and may not achieve the grace part but what do you expect? You've just been hit!

Awkwardness is not necessarily a bad thing and can make a bad situation lighter and can also be quite endearing so if this is you, it's not the end of the world...

This is what I did in the situation; I just walked off without turning around to see the culprit and basically ignored the fact that the incident happened at all.

Sometimes this is needed to avoid confrontation and keep your positive psyche in tact. Basically, if you say it didn't happen enough, you'll think it didn't happen...

The opposite of the other one, some situations require a more extreme response, which may be shouting at the culprit or just showing your disdain. If you've been having a bad day, this may be the response you choose. Other times it is to assert your authority and is a prevantative measure against it happening again.

Warning: If this is too entertaining, some may repeat the action to envoke a reaction.

I have a friend (you know who you are) who is basically the king of shade. Being passive agressive will make the person regret that they ever hit you...

'Take that life!'

... but you can also seem to be somewhat chill.

For some people I know this is instinctive. You threaten then you basically say,

'I wanna fight you'

and then... well I guess we'll see...

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In conclusion, what I am saying is that everyone reacts differently and that is fine, that is natural, after all we are only human (unless we're not); sometimes different situations require different reactions and I am barely touching the surface.

What I will say, is that if life is getting hard, talk to someone, get out your frustrations/anger/sadness (although this may take a while), e.g. through sport, music, maths or art, and do something to make you happy.

Maybe get your friends just to say what they like about you so that you re-realise that you are special.

No one can tell you how to act, what to feel or what to think just play it by ear, trust yourself, and you'll be fine.

Charlz x