CHILDREN BY CHOICE ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

Do things that make you feel good

This may sound obvious but you may find it helpful to think about exactly what is going on when you are feeling good, what's happening when you are not feeling good, and how you and others are contributing to these situations. Whilst you cannot change other people's behaviour, you do have some control over how you behave and react in situations.

• Ask yourself what is happening when you are feeling good. Are you alone or with people? Who are you with? What are they doing and saying? What are you doing, thinking and saying?
• How is this situation different from when you are feeling down? What is happening when you are feeling sad, guilty or angry? Are you alone? Are you with other people? Who are you with during these times? What are they doing and saying? What are you thinking, doing and saying?
• Challenge yourself to move to situations that make you feel good, where possible.
• Understand that there are some times where you may feel down and that this is also ok. It may be part of the process you need to go through.
• How are your thoughts or behaviours contributing to the above situations? Are you able to identify more positive ways of thinking, saying or doing, to lesson the likelihood of situations making you feel down. Keep in mind that you can only control situations to some extent. For example, you cannot control other people's actions.

Therefore, some of the time you may choose to work on parts of your life that are contributing to your negative feelings. Other times you may let yourself experience whatever it is you are feeling and that this is also ok. It's up to you! At the very least, you may have gained some more awareness on what is contributing to your feelings.