As my kids are getting to the teenage years they seem to respond in anger a lot. I have tried to determine what is before the anger - what is the primary emotion as anger is a secondary emotion. When we can appropriately label our feelings we are better able to find the problem leading to that emotion and then solve the problem.
I have had a very bad week - got hit in the parking lot - dinging my car, mistake at the hospital that was frustrating (but not dangerous) overly tired, worn thin, my husband took on a small part time job - just enough to throw more kid responsibilities on me and I was disillusioned by something that wasn't what i thought. Overall quite a few things to upset and yet I don't want to be upset. Whatever the primary problem and emotion I just want to be happy and at peace.
I spent a large part of my day in scripture study and prayer and have determined that instead of devining what the primary negative emotion is, I want to think of as many positive emotions as I can and then choose to feel one - thus choosing my action/feeling instead of just reacting to things around me. I know I could look up a list of these emotions but thinking of them on my own seems like it would help internalize them more
So: happy, excited, calm, joyful, hopeful, peaceful, grateful, giddy, fun loving
I'm going to spend the rest of the day excited - I'm excited to be home from work, I'm excited to spend time with my kids, I'm excited to read a book, I'm excited to sit out in the warm weather, I'm excited for change, I'm excited to follow the promptings of the spirit, I'm excited to move forward. I'm excited to be me.
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