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Thursday, May 2, 2019

Manage Your Emotions Using This Method : REED

This is something I teach all of my children in order to help them to recognize what they are feeling and to deal with those feelings in a healthy way. I hope to teach them that the feelings will come and it is important to recognize those feelings and lean into them, feel them and then let it go. This exercise was profoundly useful to me during a very difficult time in my life. I used this acrostic to help me manage the emotions that could have overtaken me.

The method is called REED. It is an acrostic that stands for Recognize Examine Express Decide.

Recognize:
what emotion am I experiencing right now.
"...why so downcast o my soul..." Psalm 43:5

Examine:
Why am I feeling this way?
"...search me o God and know my heart." Psalm 129:23

Express: 
Tell The Lord why you are feeling what you are feeling and ask Him for the wisdom and help to overcome.
"Hear, O LORD, my voice when I call; be merciful and answer me" Psalm 27:7"

Decide:
Make the conscious choice to leave it in the Lord's hands and trust that He is working all things out for the good of those who love Him.
"...Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." Psalm 43:5



An example of this is last week I was feeling down. I'd just seen my brother the day before. We talked about how he is going to be traveling the country for the next year. I was sad for a good part of the next day. I never took the time to examine my emotions or deal with them. Eventually I took just a couple of minutes to try to understand why I was experiencing this sadness using REED.
Recognize 
What am I feeling? Sadness
Examine
Why am I feeling this way?  My brother will be gone for a year! 
Express
 My brother is a very deep part of who I am as a person and it will hurt to not get to see him. I will miss sharing our coffee inspiring yet challenging conversations and getting his perspective on things (usually very different from my own but somehow the same). 
Decide. 
Ultimately I prayed for The Lord to out a hedge of protection around my brother, keep him safe, take care of him and his girlfriend and being them home safely to us. 

I felt better after this. I explained to him that I was feeling down because I knew I wouldn't get to see him for a year.  He said he like to focus on the positive and enjoy the good times we have together. I told him I like that as we'll buy sometimes it's good to recognize our emotions, feel them, deal with them and move on. He agreed. 

I hope this will help you to manage your emotions in a healthy way.. Praying this post gives you hope and  help. 
Grace & peace,
Adoring Family

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