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When a homeschool mama is frustrated or overwhelmed, she needs to challenge her uncomfortable feelings.
Get familiar with them. Learn from them. Learn about you and why you feel what you feel.
Here’s how to help the homeschool mom when she’s frustrated or overwhelmed.
Dr. Daniel Amen, author of Brain Health, first introduced me to a series of questions that help put all uncomfortable feelings in perspective.
Really? All of them, you ask.
Actually, yes. But I’m hardly saying there isn’t a reason to feel depressed or angry at times or a bunch of other uncomfortable feelings. Feelings have their place.
We are human beings and human beings feel a whole bunch of feelings. But as we also know, a lot of our uncomfortable feelings would benefit from examination and exploration: which often gives us perspective.
First question: “Is what I’m thinking true?”
Usually, I’d answer, “Yes of course,” to that question. “Of course it’s true, why else would I be thinking it?
Second question: “Can I, with one hundred percent certainty, know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my thought is true? What if there was a different perspective?”
Hmmm, maybe an alternative perspective would change the outcome to my assumption. Okay, so now I’m thinking about other perspectives now.
And the third question is the clincher.
“What if there is a different way of thinking about things?
How would a different thought affect how I approach my uncomfortable feeling or the situation that compelled that feeling?
And how might that alternative approach affect the outcome?”
I later discovered these questions were not unique to this well-known brain doctor, Daniel Amen. These questions were part of a psychological approach to cognitive therapy, psychology stuff. Therapy stuff. Stuff you pay a hundred bucks for.
(Caveat: Sometimes you need a friend to sift through your thoughts. And sometimes you need to spend those hundred dollars.)
Another approach to dealing with uncomfortable feelings is reading daily affirmations.
Affirmations aren’t a magic bullet to thought utopia.
But affirmations can definitely be daily influencers to my homeschool parenting approach.
Our thoughts influence our practical, tangible experiences, so consider each uncomfortable thought.
Big Emotions Journal for the Homeschool Mom
Introducing the Homeschool Mama’s Toolbox, a resource to help homeschooling mothers manage emotions and enhance mindfulness. It includes Dr. Amen’s three questions for self-reflection. Daily meditation practices and a Thought Care Checklist aid in handling challenging situations. Sharpen your mental tools and improve your homeschooling journey today!
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Call to Adventure by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3470-call-to-adventure
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
