What to do with the spirit?

I've been reading Paulo Coelho's 'The Winner Stands Alone'. This time for my b'day I got a huge stack of books and after finally finishing the tale of Howard Roark's ascent in the 'Fountainhead' and Sudha Murthy's repetitive collection of stories 'The Old Man and His God', started on this latest.
Most of the books, in one way or another pen the tale of a man's battle with his own inner desires and outer realities. Don't we all do that...ever so often. The helplessness is tremendous to say the least. Coping with it is a gargantuan task. I wonder how people do it..face the monster that kills your spirit each and every day..it may be a circumstance, an unsavoury happening or an insufferable person...
Yes, there are the optimisms 'This too shall end', 'There is light at the end of the tunnel', 'The night is the darkest before dawn' blah blah blah....I admit, these do help sometimes...Sometimes a silent prayer works wonders and perhaps so does a vent to the encompassing rage. For some it's a session of mindless TV while for others it's a bout of high-intensity workout. Oh God, but what do I do with the spirit...the aforementioned only calm the symptoms.
I guess, as poet Milton said...wait...