Question: From someone who's going through a rough patch, can you speak of a time you faced hardship that you felt like you'd never overcome? Friendship problems? Love issues? Educational crisis?Family disruption? How did you deal with them? Please talk about it, if you will! (Asked by silverresnitch)

SHEHZER:

I think nobody can survive life without going through several rough patches. For me, one of the biggest downturns was having a broken family. As a barely teenage kid, my parents' divorce shook me. It changed me, for better or for worse.

I don't think I was as responsible, or serious about relationships, as before the divorce. It makes me value each moment I have with a partner like Mina. But on the downside, I had to witness first hand, what it did to my mother, and it also instilled in me, a number of insecurities that can't easily go away. (I think you know about my initial aversion to fatherhood).

You ask me how I got through this rough patch?

Well, someone wise once said, "Look at those beneath you, and not those who're above you." (Prophet Muhammad S.A.W). When hard times strike, imagine that someone out there is worse off than you. Now do you deserve to wallow in self-pity? No. I didn't think so. And trust me, it isn't hard finding people who're infinitely worse off than you. You only have to turn the TV on. People forced to flee homes (Syria), mothers burying children...there's much to be thankful for.

In times of hardships, it becomes important to hold onto the good parts of your life, rather than the bad parts. So I usually do two things whenever I'm feeling low.

A) Repeat to self, "This time will pass." Over and over again. Seriously, it works. Imagine a time in the future, when this dark period, will be nothing but a bad memory. Imagine a time, when the things that matter to you NOW, won't matter anymore. Say these words to yourself, out loud. Or write it on a post-it note, and stick it your bathroom mirror. Whatever works.

B) Everyday, find atleast one good thing about your life. Maybe your coffee was particularly strong. Maybe you managed to avoid the regular traffic on the way to work. Maybe you slipped on banana peel, and nobody saw you! After a while, you start trying a little harder to remember the good bits, and the negativity kinda takes the rear seat for a while.

What doesn't kill you, does make you stronger after all!...or so, Ms.Kelly Clarkson says.