Simply put, a house fire is one of the most traumatic events in a person’s life. It evokes a wide range of emotions like fear, grief and anxiety, making it more difficult to move on and overcome the trauma of a house fire.

Your home is your sanctuary. It is where you are supposed to feel the safest. But a house fire can shatter that feeling of safety and replace it with a sense of unease.

Feeling uncomfortable in your home can then lead to an inability to relax and an increase in stress.

Increased stress is not good because stress can be very damaging to your health.

In fact, new research shows that stress can damage everything from your gums to your heart and make you much more susceptible to getting everything from the common cold to cancer.

Experts say stress contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure and strokes.

It also affects the immune system, which protects us from many serious diseases.

Stress also contributes to the development of alcoholism, obesity, suicide, drug addiction, cigarette addiction and other harmful behaviors.

So what can you do to overcome the emotional trauma of a house fire and get on with your life?

Here are some tips:

Stop Blaming

The first step to overcoming something negative like a house fire is to stop blaming. You shouldn’t blame yourself or others for the fire – this is only going to waste time and energy.

Instead focus on thinking positively about the future. Don’t look at the bad side of the situation but rather concentrate on the good side.

Look at the good that could ultimately come out of this unfortunate situation. For example, you could end up in an even better house in a better location – we’ll talk more about this in a minute.

Right now, just remember that if you are the victim of a house fire that you should become like a gemologist whose duty is to extract gold from rock and mud. Focus on the gold, or the good, and not what is around it.

Avoid Becoming Critical

It is very easy after something negative occurs like a house fire to develop a negative, ‘critical of everything’ attitude. Your family does not need that at this time.

Developing a critical attitude will only make everyone feel sad and uncomfortable and keep your family mired in an unhappy situation for longer than need be.

For those reasons, do not indulge in unnecessary criticism. It is far too easy to become bitter and critical following a house fire but in the end this type of attitude will only serve to hold you back.

Being negative or critical does not help; it only complicates matters as it pulls down people who are hard working and happy otherwise.

Take Action

Instead of becoming negative and critical … take action! The more you sit around and stew about what has happened the more time you’ll have to get lost in feelings of sadness and loss.

That means contact the insurance company and begin moving forward on recovering from the house fire.

Have contractors come in and give estimates to repair the fire damage. Have an inspector look at the house and determine its safety. Work with your insurance agent to get your settlement moving forward.

It is often human nature to delay taking action, especially when something negative, like a house fire, unexpectedly happens.

The worst thing about procrastination is that it builds up a negative attitude. When work is completed, you feel happy and relieved but when you have work that you ignore it can weigh you down.

Live in the present tense. Don’t say, “I will get to it soon when I feel better.” Change that into, “I will do it now.” When you say “someday”, it can mean “none of these days.” Don’t build up the habit of procrastination. Work hard today for a better tomorrow.

Accept That it is Going to Take Some Time

You need to accept that it is going to take time for everything to get back to normal.

A house fire can have wide-ranging effects on your life. It’s simply going to take some time for things to return to normal.

Always remember that old saying that “Rome was not built in a day.” It took hundreds of years to build such a beautiful city. Likewise, it is also going to take some time to rebuild your house or for you to find a new house and feel comfortable inside its walls – not years but maybe a few months.

Don’t let any of this hold you back. Instead embrace the change and look at the future as an adventure that will ultimately end in you and your family feeling happier and more appreciative of what you have.

Be Aware of Your Options

Being aware of your various options is another crucial step to overcome trauma of a house fire and moving forward with your life.

For instance, if your house was not totally destroyed in the fire you may have the option of repairing the house and staying there or selling it “as is.”

Most house fire victims initially decide to repair their fire damaged house and remain living in it. This is understandable due to the memories that have been created in the house as well as the feelings of comfortableness that it provides after years of living there.

But many who decide to stay often end up regretting it. This is because of the expense of repairs and the length of time they often require to be completed.

One way to avoid the often frustrating repair process is to sell your fire-damaged house “as is” to a company like We Buy Fire Damaged Houses.

This way the homeowner gets a quick cash payment for their house. Then they can use that money along with their insurance settlement to buy an even better house in the same area or in an even better location. That’s what we were talking about earlier in this article.

To learn more about selling a fire damaged house and to see if you qualify for a free quote from We Buy Fire Damaged Houses, fill out the short form below.