Chapter 1 BuildingEmotional Strength
- What is emotional resilience?
- The ability to adapt to emotional challenges with courage and faith.
- Helping yourself and others the best you can.
- Reaching out for additional help when needed.
- The ability to adapt to emotional challenges with courage and faith.
- Accepting challenges
- Using agency to act responsibly
- Challenges or unexpected changes may seem unfair. We may be tempted to respond in ways that are unproductive and not Christlike: blame others, make excuses, rebel, complain, find fault, doubt, give up, procrastinate, get angry, indulge in self-pity, allow fear to rule, self-justify.
- Challenges or unexpected changes may seem unfair. We may be tempted to respond in ways that are unproductive and not Christlike: blame others, make excuses, rebel, complain, find fault, doubt, give up, procrastinate, get angry, indulge in self-pity, allow fear to rule, self-justify.
- The blessings of change
- Expressing gratitude daily
Chapter 2 HealthyThinking Patterns
- Our thoughts influence our emotions
- Recognizing inaccurate thinking patterns
Thinking Patterns | Explanation | Example |
All or nothing | Seeing something or someone as all good or all bad. Look for phrases with words like always and never. | I always say the wrong thing. |
Mislabeling | Taking something that happened and making a broad or incorrect statement. | The relationship ended, so I'm not good enough. |
Jumping to conclusions | Interpreting others' thoughts or assuming the worst possible outcome. | I bet everyone is laughing at me. |
Personalizing | Blaming yourself or someone else for a situation that in reality involved many factors. | They did not call me back, so they must be mad at me. |
Emotional reasoning | Judging a situation based on how you feel. | I feel guilty. I must have done something bad. |
Overgeneralization | Applying one experience and generalizing it to all experiences. | I did poorly on this assignment, so why should I stay in the class? |
Negative mental filter | Focusing on a negative detail and dwelling on it. | It feels like nothing went well today. It was just failure after failure. |
Discounting the positive | Rejecting all positive experiences because you don't feel like they count. | It does not matter if my daughter ate breakfast. She threw so many tantrums throughout the rest of the day. |
magnification | Exaggerating your weaknesses or comparing them to others' strengths. | I barely cook dinner for my family, and when I do, it's nothing like her dinners. |
Should statement | Telling yourself how things should or should not be. | I shouldn't have messed up like that. |
- Responding to triggers
Atrigger is something that causes an automatic reaction in our thoughts,feelings and behaviors.
Trigger | How did I feel because of the trigger? | How did I react? | How can I respond? |
Going to a party where you don't know anyone. | | | |
Being around someone you don't get along with. | | | |
Hearing or seeing a negative message about me or someone I love. | | | |
- Creating more accurate thinking patterns
- Here are some questions you can use to challenge your inaccurate thoughts:
- Considering all the evidence, is the thought I'm having 100 percent accurate?
- Is this thought all or nothing, all good or all bad, win or lose, true or false?
- Does thinking this way help me or hurt me?
- How do I feel when I have this thought?
- What do I know about myself and others that tells me this is not true?
- What would I tell my best friend or someone I respected if they thought these things?
- Considering all the evidence, is the thought I'm having 100 percent accurate?
- Here are some questions you can use to challenge your inaccurate thoughts:
- Changing our thinking takes practice
Chapter 3 Our bodiesand emotions
- Our bodies are a gift
- Regular exercise
- Sleep and rest
- Personal hygiene
- Healthy eating
- Understanding our emotions
- Self-care
- When you face challenges, you need to do all you can to take care of yourself. Below is a list of ideas for self-care:
- Take a nap
- Visit with a friend
- Slow down
- Take a shower or bath
- Exercise
- Read a book
- Listen to music
- Create something
- Pray
- Take a walk
- Make a list of things you are grateful for
- Enjoy a nice meal
- Dance
- Sing
- Use relaxation techniques
- Take a nap
- When you face challenges, you need to do all you can to take care of yourself. Below is a list of ideas for self-care:
Chapter 4 Managingstress and anxiety
- What are stress and anxiety
- Understanding levels of stress
| If you feel | What to do |
Green | Confident, content, ready to meet challenges, able to get along with others, able to feel the spirit easily | This is the level people desire to be in, but it is normal to fluctuate. Keep going. |
Yellow | Tense, concerned, worried, insecure, difficulty connecting with others, distracted from feeling the spirit | It is normal to spend some time at the yellow level. Be kind to yourself as you cope with the challenges of life. |
orange | Exhausted (physically and emotionally), overwhelmed, ill, easily angered, deeply discouraged | Engage in relaxing activities, and remember good experiences. |
red | Constantly overwhelmed, isolated from others, hopeless, difficulty eating or sleeping normally, unable to continue, like you have been abandoned | Ask for help |
- Use mindfulness to reduce stress
- Accessing
- Talk
- Ponder
- Look at your expectations
- Take a short break
- Be aware of when you're stressed
- Focus on gratitude
- Be active
- Limit technology use
- Be kind to yourself
- Help someone else
- Try a relaxing activity
- Stay connected with friends and family
- Take it one step at a time
- Practice mindfulness
- Talk
- Perfectionism
- Perfectionism is the belief that if we are not perfect in everything, we are a failure and not good enough for anyone else.
- Here are four principles for increasing self-compassion and decreasing perfectionism:
- Become aware of perfectionism in our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
- Challenge those thoughts, feelings, and actions.
- Accept our mistakes as part of life, and don't fear making mistakes.
- Develop self-compassion; accept and love yourself, including your imperfections.
- Become aware of perfectionism in our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
- Perfectionism is the belief that if we are not perfect in everything, we are a failure and not good enough for anyone else.