When I find myself in especially difficult times and I'm feeling depressed or anxious I find it helps me to create a list of things I can look forward to, that I have control over, or that I can be grateful for in my life. Sometimes this is to find positivity, sometimes to find focus, but it always serves as an anchor for my thoughts and my emotions.
Here is an example that I created which is from when I was told that we were being recalled from Namibia by the United States Government (my goal was to come up with ten things I could look forward to when I got home):
1. Seeing my parents
2. Snuggling my cat
3. Visiting my best friend Abby who I haven't seen in nearly a year and who is also being recalled from her semester abroad in Trinidad and Tobago
4. Eating Asian food again
5. Cooking with an oven
6. The internet not being a shit show
7. Taking photos at the Seattle Selfie Museum
8. Being in Washington during Spring, my favorite season
9. Celebrating my 21st birthday in America with my friends
10. Starbucks
11. Hiking in Washington state where it doesn't feel like the Sun is reaching down your throat while you walk
12. Taking a hot bubble bath
13. Getting a chance to focus on my blog
14. Sleeping on a memory foam mattress
15. Taking my dog for a walk
16. Learning Italian with my parents in anticipation of when we'll finally get to go to Italy
17. Good chocolate chip cookies
18. I can redecorate my room
19. Getting to charge my toothbrush because I forgot the charger at home
20. Watching the latest season of Grey's Anatomy
As you can see, I managed to come up with more items than my goal, and that's because as I wrote I was able to think of more things. Transcribing it now I came up with a few more. It doesn't matter how many items you come up with or how significant you are because it's just an exercise in mastering your own mind but it certainly helps me and it's something I hope you'll try if you find yourself struggling.