The year 2020 has been one hell of a ride. And although things are finally going for the better, many people still find themselves struggling to cope with uncertainty about the future, prolonged effects of quarantine, and low spirits in times of worldwide health crisis.

A batch of positive news, like this post, has likely done the job and lifted our spirits, but finding inner peace in your mind takes much more than that. In order to find out what an expert has to say about keeping oneself in a good place, Bored Panda reached out to the positivity coach and author of “Positive Young Minds” Lynn How. Lynn specializes in supporting parents, teachers, and children as they navigate through mental health issues and prevention.

According to Lynn, there’s always a source of strength deep inside us which helps us get through all kinds of crises. “Whether it’s work-life balance or combatting an issue such as addiction, a pandemic situation such as this exacerbates our difficulties to the extreme. With suicide at an all-time high and a mental health crisis on our hands, it is time we learnt how to access those skills which will help us to help ourselves.”

But Lynn explains that inner strength is something we most often don’t know we have until it's needed. “It’s what keeps you getting up every day when all you want to do is crawl back under the duvet and pretend the day hasn’t started. It’s the thing that makes you smile at your kids when you’re dying inside.”

Luckily, “We all have it to some degree and therefore we can build upon it.” In order to do so, Lynn says it's crucial to not be afraid to ask for help and let people know how you feel.”

Another important aspect of finding one’s inner strength is resilience. The positive mindset coach explains that “it’s the ultimate key to that inner strength, that ‘bounceablility’—which is the ability to keep getting up when you get knocked down, is often what you learn in the first few years of your life.”

This is a trait that should be fostered from an early age, but “unfortunately, as parents, we always want to solve children’s problems to cause them the least amount of pain possible.” But resilience is also something we can work on throughout the course of our lives.