The dreaded cycle of losing all understanding of who you are and why you exist no longer has to be cloaked in fear and anxiety. The roof of existentialism expresses the design of humanity as one with free will and development. And as we all are aware, with great power comes great responsibility. At times, our exercises of free will and possessing too many options can lead us down a spiraling path into darkness until we are eventually immobilized. However, with a basic language of optimism and acceptance, a crisis can be a positive step in coming closer to self-actualization.

1. It's true. You're lost. (We all are.)

The nature of an existential crisis stems from a range of misguided and conflicting feelings, one of which being the ultimate sense of loneliness. What we tend to forget when we’re on the brink of a breakdown is that if, as a single human being, each of us can experience a particular emotion, then other individuals must be doing so as well. A bright way to deal with those times is to step back from the situation and try our hardest to take comfort in the commonality of the human experience.

2. The acceptance of rock bottom.

The best thing about having a loss of all hope is that we get to reject exactly what it is that made us fall apart in the first place. We have the chance to accept that we’ve hit a low point and that we can no longer continue to exist the way we have been thus far. Therefore, the next steps include reflecting on what we were doing wrong in life, then subsequently letting go and cleansing ourselves of those very toxins. The good news is, our mental and emotional levels can only go up from here.

3. Gaining a new outlook.

Once we’ve discovered that our routines that led us to our panic are to be thrown in the trash, we begin to view and challenge everything that comes our way through a new lens. We often rid ourselves of seeking permission from the confines of what we understood ourselves to be. We go forth with a more positive attitude about developing who we want to be.

4. The opportunity to flourish under new circumstances.

After the acceptance of the low point and a change of mindset, we find ourselves saying yes to new experiences and taking part in exciting events. Whether this is due to the hope that one of these paths will lead us out of our doom or if we’re just looking for a distraction from it, in times of crisis, we often put ourselves in a position to find new ways of giving ourselves meaning.

5. So the next one will sting a little less.

As you may have noticed, growing older requires many of these moments of falling apart and then repairing ourselves. The process is an inescapable piece of the human condition. However, it is through this process that we can allow ourselves to grow from the new environments we plant ourselves in. Each crisis we face is an opportunity to become more authentically us. Therefore, when we find ourselves at the bottom of our individualized roller coasters, we can use the knowledge we gained from the last time so that the climb back up doesn’t seem so high.