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jonsblond's avatar

"When it rains it pours". Why does life kick you when you are down?

Asked by jonsblond (43705points) December 1st, 2009

The threat of a job loss, a car that is ready to die on you at any moment, a child that keeps getting sick, bills that keep getting larger, a water heater that quits on you during a holiday weekend.

If it was spaced throughout the year it may be easier to cope with. All within a few months is just too much at times.

Why is it that the worst seems to happen all at once? How do you cope when it never ends?

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36 Answers

holden's avatar

“This, too, will pass.”

Ailia's avatar

Well I believe its karma and whenever I’m bogged down with a lot of stuff like right now for instance, I pray and then then take deep breaths and get myself together.

PandoraBoxx's avatar

@holden, I’ve been on the $800 a month in unforseen expenses plan for about the last 20 years. Last month it was vet bills for a cat.

faye's avatar

And why does everything happen on a Friday so there’s no one to call or you have to pay extra? I think I cope because I have to, and that’s when I go to my ‘special’ place, on a beach watching the waves-earlier thread. And there’s mastercard.

ItalianPrincess1217's avatar

You just described my life. My aunt even sent me a card that said “when it rains, it pours” along with some words of encouragement. For some reason life seems to throw a bunch of crap at me all at once. At first I stress about it. A lot. But my fiancĂ© calms me down and reminds me that everything always works out in the end. And he’s right, it always does. So now I try to see these obstacles as a test. How well I can deal with them? How do I fix the issues at hand? Am I able to stay positive even through the tough times? Life is all about how you deal with the cards you’re dealt.

jonsblond's avatar

@ItalianPrincess1217 Looks like we need a group hug. (((hug)))

ItalianPrincess1217's avatar

@jonsblond :) I’m all for a group hug! (((Hugs)))

dannyc's avatar

Mostly because we do not share..there is plenty for everyone, just like a family we should be helping each other, but instead we act like total strangers in a dog eat dog world. We are more like the latter, which leads to the kick you are referring to..

wildpotato's avatar

I don’t think there’s any design to the bad luck. It’s just bad luck. I cope with it by not thinking about it. And by running the occasional scam.

faye's avatar

I live in a house built in1957. The plumbing all seemed to give out close together. I was a single mom, broke, had to go to work. Thank god I have a wonderful neighbor who let my girls wash their hair in her shower. heaven forbid that they do their hair camping style [with a pot of water]. The plus side is that I know how to seat a toilet, the pipewrench is my friend and my kids deal with a lot of crap with their heads up [not just plumbing]. And sometimes you just have to go to bed. And 1990 Jettas are jinxed.

ItalianPrincess1217's avatar

Another thing I try to do when I’m feeling like the world is against me is remind myself that it could always be worse. If I lost my job, I’d remind myself that at least my fiancĂ© still has a job. If the gas company turned my heat off due to late payments, I’d remind myself that at least I don’t have an infant in the house that will be in danger. No matter how bad things seem, it could always be much worse.

Darwin's avatar

You can try my mantra: You can laugh or you can cry, but if you cry your nose hurts. It helped when my husband went to the doctor for a prescription refill and stayed 12 weeks in the hospital. Then after he got out the power company turned off the electricity just before he was to have a treatment that required power, so I had to run an extension cord next door to my neighbor’s house.

And again it helped during the month when my grandmother died, my neighbor died, a friend died, our cat died, our car died, and the guy who assumed our mortgage on our old house quit paying, trashed the house and moved out and I had to come up with $6000 yesterday. On top of all that, my husband had to have emergency angioplasty.

“I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.”— Mother Teresa

At least you are alive (God forbid) so that at least you have luck, even if it’s bad.

“If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all! Gloom, despair and agony on me-e-e!” – HeeHaw

ThomasJames's avatar

Me and my friend were just discussing this today..we wondered how one week everything seems to go right like you’re on top of the world. And within a short matter of time everything seems to go against you. Like everything that was right suddenly went wrong. I’m in one of these rough patches of life too, and like everyone else said..everything will sort itself out with time.

Darwin's avatar

Life is bipolar. That’s what it is. I mean, the world is, too, what with the North Pole and the South Pole.

faye's avatar

Some one said if the door closes, look for a window. I hate s**t like that! I say leave my doors alone for just a f***ing week and let me catch my breath.

Haroot's avatar

It’s like a coin flip. 50/50 probability of good or bad luck. And on rare occasions it will land on it’s side.

I’ve been going through this crap as well as of late, but the two things that keep me going are that A) I’m bound to get heads eventually, and B) After all this, I survived. I took the worst of it and survived. I kinda feel like a badass.

Allie's avatar

Ugh, seriously. Maybe it’s just that when things aren’t going well we tend to notice a bit more. No one ever complains of too much good luck.
Anyway, I feel ya @jonsblond. I’m having a shitty time too.

Darwin's avatar

“Why does life kick you when you are down?”

Because it can.

steveo32oz's avatar

This is gonna sound kinda cheezy, but watch Forrest Gump. I know in the movie tom hanks portrays a slow person, but the message can go for anyone, and that line “life is like a box of chocolates, youll never know wat ur gonna get” , is true to the T. Its not what your going through at the time, its how you deal with it, and trust me everybody in this world goes through it, rich, poor, young, old, its just a part of life. The best thing i can say is keep a positive attitude, and just know that there will be light at the end of the storm.

casheroo's avatar

I find crying really helps.

((hugs))

hungryhungryhortence's avatar

You’ve just described my November. Today is December 1st and I had hoped to have a lovely evening and beautiful morning but nooooooooooooooooo…. CRAPULENCE happens so I’m going to fluther and watch netflix and seethe until I can pass out and dream of knocking on a door where someone opens it up, greets me with a smile and a flower, says they’ve been waiting for me and asks if I’d like something warm to drink since they can see I’m so damn cold. Uh yeah, like that.

jonsblond's avatar

I have my daughter by my side, crying occasionally (another fever again. it’s going to be a long night), but thanks to Fluther I have a smile on my face and I feel lurved. Thank you all!

ItalianPrincess1217's avatar

@jonsblonde :( I hope she gets well soon. Keep your head up and things will get better eventually!

jonsblond's avatar

dammit! her temp is 102.5. this sucks. thank you @ItalianPrincess1217

ItalianPrincess1217's avatar

@jonsblond Yikes! That’s a bit of a high temp. How old is she? What’s going on with her? Just a cold?

jonsblond's avatar

@ItalianPrincess1217 She’s been sick on and off since September. She’s 5. We are taking her to her doctor or the emergency room in the morning. It was strep two weeks ago but she’s sick again. It’s been sick for a week, better for a week, sick again….repeat. :(

faye's avatar

This sounds like my daughter with tonsillitis. Obviously your doctor didn’t say that and I know strep is a strong germ.

casheroo's avatar

@jonsblond Oh poor thing! I just had strep and it was pure hell. The anitbiotics cleared it up for me. I ate probiotic yogurt at the same time..maybe that would help her?

jonsblond's avatar

@casheroo She loves yogurt. I wish that could help. She just finished 10 days of amoxicillin a week ago. Something isn’t right. If her doctor can’t see her tomorrow I’ll take her to the emergency room. Three months of on again off again sickness is too much. Thank you for your concern. :)

omg…she just talked in her sleep. She said “homework”. she’s 5!

rooeytoo's avatar

Sounds like she is so run down she is picking up every bug she meets!

Give her vitamins, maybe that will help.

Hope she feels better soon.

casheroo's avatar

@jonsblond I was on Augmentin (because I’m pregnant and that seems to be the only antibiotic they put you on) it really knocked it out. Hopefully it’s just a strong strain and another antibiotic helps. The medicine comes in generic, so it’s not terribly expensive (and I got it in liquid form, so I know it comes in it) Oh and my son talks in his sleep ALL the time, so does my husband..I’m convinced it’s genetic. lol

Grisaille's avatar

Sorry to hear all that’s happening, @jonsblond. Hope you’re doing okay.

As for myself, I just ignore shit until it goes away. No, really. Unless it’s something of mass importance or of supreme interest to me, I just shrug it off. Problems, emotional upsets and such interfere way too often.

Grisaille's avatar

holy hell, I might be Vulcan

Phobia's avatar

Lets see…I found out the people I financed my car with have royally screwed me; my great grandmother died; my grandmother died; my uncle has alienated the family and made all kinds of accusations that has just devastated some of the family causing stress for us all; just got over pneumonia and bronchitis…

I just take it all in stride. There’s no use in letting it bring me down. I look at the brighter side of things and be thankful it isn’t any worse. After all, I still have a bed to sleep in and food to eat. There are many that will be going without either tonight.

beautifulbobby193's avatar

I truly believe that such phenomena does occur.

Sometimes if I am going through a period of extreme bad luck I feel I can actually predict some things that happen, even though they are against the odds.

Sometimes it feels that one is on the receiving end of a lot of negative karma sometimes. Sone people are always lucky while others are always unlucky.

Personally I get both good and bad luck in waves, which makes life a right rollercoaster.

J0E's avatar

So you can deal with it all at once and then enjoy the rest of the year.

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