When I'm feeling extremely discouraged, I remind myself that life truly isn't easy so I need to stop wishing and waiting for things to change. This means I just accept the crappy times - it doesn't mean I give up and throw in the towel - I just stop dwelling on the negative, if I can't change it. Then I just go on with what I need to do and I find that helps me forget the sadness.

When I was a kid and didn't want to finish my dinner, my older siblings or mom would say " do you know there are starving kids in Africa, who would love to eat your dinner"? So I pull that 'starving kids in Africa' on myself and say "there are people who don't have arms but they play the guitar and here I am with all my limbs feeling sad. This lecture to myself works many times and it give me the energy to focus on other things.