Hi Ashley,
Since, this wonderful program is ingrained in my being, my answers to these questions are going to be positive and reflect what I have learned here. Prior, they would have been negative, but I've retrained my brain to focus on the positive and it's hard to remember how I would have reacted in the negative.
1) My daughter is moving to NYC or CA August 1st.
2) This will be long term.
3) With acceptance. I am finding myself outside of being a Mother and I will be fine.
4) My reaction is positive, I don't want to fall back into empty nest syndrome where my life seemed over at one time.
5) Acceptance is the appropriate long term action. I am happy for her and for myself being able to, more than, handle it.
6) This is an opportunity to find other things for me to do and focus on and fill my life with what makes me happy and to live a full life in a different role of being me and not just in being a Mom. The possibilities are limitless.
I like this thread, because it will always be useful and applicable, because there is always some type of stress, because we live in an imperfect world with imperfect people. Even if you look at stress in a positive way, and write the answers, it's a good reminded for you, when you have a down day or an off day, to review it and lift yourself up again.
If your answers are negative, counteract them with the positive truthful statements, and focus on those positive statements until you believe them. This is putting water (positive) on the fire (stress) instead of using gasoline (negative). It's how you retrain your brain and live a happier less anxious life by making everything better not worse. It's not the situation, it's how you look at the situation. Are you going to find the good in it or be devastated by the bad. We all have that choice.
Thanks, Ashley
Shari