Life hits hard. Sometimes it feels like you're just treading water in the middle of an ocean with no land in sight. Honestly, we’ve all been there—staring at a screen or a ceiling fan, wondering if the weight is ever going to lift. You hear people chirp that better days are coming, and it sounds like a Hallmark card or a hollow platitude meant to shut you up. But there is actual, hard science and historical precedent behind that sentiment. It’s not just "positive thinking" fluff.
Change is the only constant in the universe. That sounds like a philosophy 101 cliché, but think about it. Neuroplasticity, the Lindy Effect, and even basic economic cycles all point toward the same reality: the current low you’re experiencing is structurally incapable of lasting forever.
The Biological Reality of Resilience
Your brain is literally wired to survive the "now" so it can get to the "later." When you're in the thick of a crisis, your amygdala—the almond-shaped alarm system in your brain—is firing like crazy. It makes it feel like the world is ending. But here’s the thing: the brain eventually hits a point of adaptation.
Dr. George Bonanno, a professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University, has spent decades studying how people handle trauma. His research shows that humans are remarkably resilient. Most people don't just "get over" things; they integrate them. They find a "new normal." This isn't just a feel-good theory; it’s a documented psychological phenomenon. The "better days" aren't just a destination you arrive at; they are a result of your brain’s natural ability to recalibrate its baseline.
It’s kinda fascinating how we underestimate our own durability. We think we're glass. We're actually more like tempered steel. The heat is what makes us stronger, even if it feels like it's just burning us alive in the moment.
💡 You might also like: Why Everyone Asks What Are the Benefits of Asparagus and Why You Should Actually Care
Why Better Days Are Coming According to History
If you look at history, things fluctuate. Deeply.
Take the "Long Depression" of the late 1800s or the more recent 2008 financial collapse. During those times, the collective sentiment was that the world was fundamentally broken. But growth followed. Innovation happened. People found new ways to exist.
The Lindy Effect and Your Life
There’s this concept called the Lindy Effect. It basically suggests that the longer something has lasted, the longer it is likely to last. But this applies to periods of stability too. If you’ve been in a rut for six months, the statistical likelihood of a shift increases every day you're in it. Patterns break.
Think about the Spanish Flu of 1918. It was horrific. Tens of millions died. The world was dark. Yet, the 1920s followed—a decade of unprecedented cultural and economic explosion. This isn't to say we should ignore the pain of the present, but rather to recognize that the "down" part of the cycle is the literal precursor to the "up" part. You can't have a mountain without a valley.
The Problem with "Toxic Positivity"
We need to be real here. Sometimes, telling someone better days are coming can feel dismissive. It’s what psychologists call toxic positivity—the idea that you should stay happy no matter how much your life sucks.
🔗 Read more: Why Geisel School of Medicine NIH Grant Funding is Actually Changing Rural Healthcare
That’s not what this is about.
It’s okay to feel like garbage. It’s okay to be angry. Acknowledging the current reality is actually the first step toward moving out of it. If you pretend you're fine, you never fix the leak. You just end up with a flooded house and a fake smile. Real hope is gritty. It’s messy. It’s saying, "This is terrible right now, and I hate it, but I know, based on everything I’ve survived before, that this isn't the final chapter."
How Perspective Shifts the Timeline
A lot of our misery comes from "catastrophizing." This is when your brain takes a single bad event and spins a web of future failures out of it.
- "I lost my job" becomes "I will be homeless."
- "He broke up with me" becomes "I will die alone."
In reality, most of our fears never happen. Mark Twain famously said, "I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened." When we stop projecting the current pain into the infinite future, we allow space for the "better days" to actually show up.
Small Wins and the Compound Effect
Better days don't usually arrive with a brass band and a parade. They creep in. It’s the first morning you wake up and don't feel that immediate pit in your stomach. It’s a coffee that actually tastes good. It’s a joke that makes you genuinely laugh for three seconds.
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, talks about the power of 1% improvements. If you can make your life 1% better today—maybe just by drinking a glass of water or taking a five-minute walk—you're starting the momentum. You're signaling to your brain that you are no longer a passive victim of your circumstances. You are an active participant in your recovery.
Actionable Steps to Shift Your Momentum
If you're waiting for the clouds to part, stop looking at the sky and start looking at your feet. Move them.
👉 See also: High Protein Low Carb Bowl Recipes: What Most People Get Wrong About Meal Prep
- Audit your "input." If you're doom-scrolling on social media for four hours a day, you’re feeding your brain a steady diet of cortisol. Cut it out. Your brain needs a break from the global chaos to focus on your personal healing.
- Move your body. I know, everyone says this. It's annoying. But the link between physical movement and neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin is undeniable. A 10-minute walk isn't going to fix your mortgage, but it will change the chemical cocktail in your brain, making the problem feel 10% more manageable.
- Find a "Third Place." This is a sociological term for a place that isn't work and isn't home. A library, a park, a coffee shop. Changing your physical environment breaks the loops of thought that keep you stuck.
- Practice "Selective Ignorance." You don't need to know every bad thing happening in the world. You really don't. Give yourself permission to care only about your immediate circle for a while.
- Record the "Non-Bad" Moments. Don't even call them "good." Just notice when things aren't actively terrible. Write them down. This trains your reticular activating system (RAS) to look for evidence that life isn't a total disaster.
The truth is, better days are coming because you are still here to experience them. You have a 100% success rate of surviving your hardest days so far. That’s a pretty good track record. Don’t bet against yourself now.
Focus on the next hour. Then the next day. Eventually, you’ll look back and realize the "better days" didn't just arrive—you built them, brick by brick, while you were still waiting for the sun to come out.