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Summary

In this episode of Breast Cancer Reimagined, host Shannon D. Silva discusses the pervasive emotion of fear that accompanies a breast cancer diagnosis. She emphasizes the importance of acknowledging fear rather than pushing it away, and offers strategies for coping with it. Drawing from her personal experiences and insights from Dr. Susan Jeffers' book, Shannon explores the roots of fear, the significance of self-trust, and practical strategies to build resilience. The episode concludes with actionable steps for listeners to create their own 'I can handle it' toolkit, fostering a sense of empowerment and support throughout their journey.

Takeaways

• Fear is a normal part of the breast cancer journey.
• You can learn to handle fear.
• Building self-trust is key.
• Confusing discomfort with inability can hinder progress.
• You have a powerful inner toolkit of strengths.
• Reflecting on past challenges helps build confidence.
• Self-trust comes from showing up despite difficulties.
• It's okay to feel fear; it doesn't mean you're weak.
• Creating a support system is essential.
• Daily practices can reinforce your resilience.

🌟 Strategy #1: Build Your “I Handled It” File

A powerful reminder: You’ve done hard things before—and you can do them again.

Step 1: Recall a tough moment you’ve overcome.

Step 2: Write it down. Capture what happened, how you felt, and what helped you cope. Be honest and specific.

Step 3: Identify the character strengths you used.

Step 4: Revisit your file when fear or doubt shows up. Let it remind you: You’ve handled challenges before. You can trust yourself to do it again.

✨ Strategy #2: “Today, I Handled…”
Build self-trust in real time—one day at a time.

Step 1: Make this a daily practice.
At the end of each day, complete the sentence:
 📝 “Today, I handled…”

Step 2: Keep it simple. No win is too small. 

Step 3: Reflect regularly. Trust builds quietly through consistency.

💪 Strategy #3: Create Your “I Can Handle It” Toolkit
Your personal collection of tools to help you stay grounded and strong in hard moments.

Step 1: Gather your go-to resources:

• Square Breathing
• Mindful Pause
• Affirmations
• Your Character Strengths profile
• Support call list
• Photos, quotes, or memories that remind you of your courage

Step 2: Practice using your tools. The more you use them, the more natural it becomes to reach for support when you need it most.

Feel the Fear… and Do It Anyway

List of 24 Character Strengths

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Summary

In this episode of Breast Cancer Reimagined, host Shannon D. Silva shares her personal journey of navigating breast cancer and the importance of mental toughness. Through a story about learning to ride a Boosted Board, she explores how vulnerability can reveal strength. The episode emphasizes the significance of character strengths, particularly those related to wisdom, in building resilience during challenging times. Listeners are encouraged to engage in practical activities to enhance their mental toughness and reflect on their experiences.

Key Takeaways

• Moments of vulnerability can reveal our greatest strengths.
• Mental toughness is about resilience, not perfection.
• Embracing challenges is essential for growth.
• Taking control of your care empowers you.
• Staying committed to goals helps navigate tough times.
• Believing in yourself is crucial for coping.
• Character strengths support mental toughness.
• Creativity helps find solutions to challenges.
• Curiosity drives informed decision-making.
• Perspective allows us to see the bigger picture.

Activities 

1 - Wisdom Strength Reflection Journal

1. Pick One wisdom Strength to Focus on: Creativity, Curiosity, Judgment, Love of Learning, or Perspective.
2. Recall a Challenge – Think of a time you used this strength to solve a problem or learn something new.
3. Describe the Experience
   1. What happened?
   2. How did you use the strength?
   3. What did you learn?
4. Repeat this process for each of the wisdom Strengths, reflecting on different experiences.
5. Bonus: Look for Patterns – Which strengths felt natural? Which ones stretched you? How can you use them more?

This activity is great if you want to:

• Become more aware of your own strengths.
• Identify concrete examples of your men.

2 - Set an Intention for Growth: 

1. Choose one wisdom strength (Creativity, Curiosity, Judgment, Love of Learning, or Perspective) that you want to use to boost your mental toughness right now. 
2. For the upcoming week, commit to a simple, intentional action to apply that strength more often.

Not sure which strength to focus on? These questions will help:

🔹Feeling stuck? How can creativity help you brainstorm new solutions? Creativity

🔹Facing a problem? What questions can you ask to learn more? Curiosity

🔹Making a choice? How can you weigh your options more carefully? Judgment

🔹Want to grow? What new ideas can you explore? Love of Learning

🔹Feeling down? How can you step back and see the bigger picture? Perspective

This activity is great if you want to:

• Actively work on building your mental toughness.
• Create positive change through small, focused actions.

3 - Share Your Insights: 

• Consider discussing the concepts from this episode with a friend, family member, or within a support group. 
• Talking about these ideas with others can help you solidify your own understanding and potentially gain new perspectives.

This activity is great if you want to:

• Feel more connected and supported.
• Help or inspire others.

I am free! tattoo

List of 24 Character Strengths

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Summary

In this episode of Breast Cancer Reimagined, host Shannon D. Silva shares her personal journey of hope as a two-time breast cancer survivor. She discusses the importance of cultivating hope during challenging times, using the inspiring story of Jane Morcheski, known as Nightbird, as a focal point. The episode explores the character strength of hope, its vital role in emotional resilience, mental health, and coping strategies, and offers practical advice on how to nurture hope in everyday life through the 'Three Good Things' practice. Shannon emphasizes that hope is not just wishful thinking but an active choice that can lead to a more fulfilling life, even amidst suffering.

Takeaways

Hope is your guiding light throughout this process.

• You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy.
• Hope isn't just wishing; it's about future-mindedness, optimism, goal direction, and believing in your agency.
• Hope fosters a sense of inner strength, enabling you to cope with uncertainties.
• Hope is linked to reducing anxiety and depression.
• The Three Good Things practice helps to shift your focus to the positive.
• Nightbird's story is a powerful reminder that even in the darkest night, hope can shine.
• Hope helps us find meaning and purpose, even in difficult times.
• Even after her death, Nightbird's legacy of hope lives on.
• We can cultivate the character strength of hope by nurturing it in our everyday lives.
  
  

Three Good Things Activity

1. Daily Reflection: Each day, before bed (or anytime that works for you), take a few minutes to reflect on your day.
2. Identify Three Good Things: Think of three good things that happened that day. They don't have to be huge. They can be small and simple. Maybe it was a beautiful sunset, a kind word from a friend, a moment of feeling a little stronger, a moment of laughter, a delicious cup of tea – anything positive, no matter how small.
3. Write Them Down: Jot them down in a journal, or simply mentally list them. For each good thing, ask yourself: 'Why was this good? What made this positive?

List of 24 Character Strengths

VIA Survey

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Summary
In this episode of Breast Cancer Reimagined, host Shannon D. Silva, a two-time breast cancer survivor, explores the transformative power of gratitude in navigating the challenges of breast cancer. She shares personal stories and practical strategies for cultivating gratitude, emphasizing its role in enhancing mental health, fostering happiness, and finding deeper meaning in life. Listeners are encouraged to discover their unique relationship with gratitude and to practice it intentionally through specific prompts.

Takeaways

• Gratitude can transform challenges into opportunities for growth.
• Experiencing gratitude can ease pain and foster self-compassion.
• Gratitude supports mental wellbeing by counteracting negative emotions.
• Practicing gratitude can boost happiness and life satisfaction.
• Gratitude connects individuals to a deeper sense of purpose.
• Understanding your character strengths can enhance your gratitude practice.
• Gratitude can be a signature strength, middle strength, or lesser strength.
• Personalizing gratitude practices makes them more impactful.
• Simple prompts can help cultivate a gratitude mindset.
• Recognizing the good in life is essential for emotional resilience.

Journaling Prompts:

#1  I’m grateful for… because…This is meaningful because… 

#2: Things could be worse and I’m glad they’re not 

List of 24 Character Strengths

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Understanding how stress impacts your breast cancer journey is vital for navigating challenges effectively. This episode discusses the nature of stress, shares personal insights, and provides practical tools for transforming your mindset from viewing stress as harmful to seeing it as a powerful ally.

• Exploring the definition and origins of stress 
• The difference between real threats and perceived threats 
• The impact of mindset on stress responses 
• Research insights on perception shifts regarding stress 
• Introduction to three practical tools for managing stress 
• Tool One: The Stress Reset process 
• Tool Two: Stress Less, Connect More and reaching out for support 
• Tool Three: Highlighting strengths in stressful situations 
• Emphasis on the ongoing process of shifting stress perspectives 
• Encouragement to embrace and celebrate small victories

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List of 24 Character Strengths

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TedTalk with Kelly McGonigal

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This episode is a mini workshop and includes a Worksheet so you can follow along. 

Shannon offers a heartfelt exploration of how to navigate the breast cancer journey by cultivating a mindset of growth and resilience. Through personal insights and actionable advice, she inspires listeners to accept their current situations and find strength and meaning in them.

• Emphasis on the importance of mindset in navigating health challenges
• Five central themes of blooming where you are planted 
• Misconceptions surrounding the journey of personal growth 
• Journaling exercise to confront irrational beliefs 
• Steps to redefine personal beliefs for empowerment 
• Guided visualization to nurture inner strengths

What does it Mean to Bloom Where You Are Planted - 5 themes

1. Be Kind to Yourself Right Where You Are 
2. Give Yourself Time to Grow 
3. Find the Beauty in the Tough Stuff 
4. Trust Your Own Journey 
5. Embrace Yourself with Love 

List of 24 Character Strengths

VIA Survey

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Self-compassion becomes a vital lifeline for navigating the overwhelming challenges of a breast cancer journey. This episode introduces the concept of the Mirror Check-In, a tool for fostering self-kindness and emotional resilience during difficult moments. 
• Navigating tough emotions during a breast cancer journey 
• Exploring the meaning and importance of self-compassion 
• Introduction of the Mirror Check-In tool for self-reflection 
• Four elements of the Mirror Check-In: self-awareness, self-talk, self-soothing, and strengths 
• The impact of waiting and uncertainty on emotional well-being 
• The challenge of offering self-compassion and kindness 
• Importance of practicing self-compassion actively during treatment 
• Encouragement to integrate self-compassion into daily life 

Thank you for joining.

The 4 Elements of the Mirror Check-In

1. Self-awareness - acknowledge your emotions and respond with kindness instead of self-criticism
2. Self-talk—speak kindly to yourself
3. Self-soothing - comfort yourself with small physical gestures of kindness
4. Character Strengths - tap into your inner reservoir of resilience and courage

List of 24 Character Strengths

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This episode explores how personal narratives shape the experiences of those navigating breast cancer, emphasizing the power of choosing joy and finding meaning through struggle. Shannon discusses practical methods for uncovering deeper meaning, including leveraging personal meaning strengths and recognizing defining moments within one's journey.

• Choosing joy despite challenges 
• Importance of narratives in shaping experiences 
• Two practices to find deeper meaning 
• Exploring six meaning strengths 
• Importance of community and shared experiences 
• Steps to reflect on personal defining moments 
• Encouragement to engage with personal journeys

The 6 Meaning Strengths:

1. Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence 
2. Curiosity
3. Gratitude
4. Perspective
5. Social Intelligence
6. Spirituality

List of 24 Character Strengths

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The episode explores how activating personal strengths during a breast cancer journey can transform the experience from one of endurance to one of growth and empowerment. Shannon discusses practical methods for identifying, exploring, and applying these strengths to navigate challenges effectively.

• Understanding the importance of activating personal strengths 
• First steps: building awareness and reflecting on past experiences 
• Practical application: using strengths creatively in daily life 
• Explore two key practices: signature strengths and resource priming 
• Harnessing strengths to cultivate resilience and a positive mindset

Using a Signature Strengths in New Ways

1. Select a signature strengths to focus on this week 
   • Refer to your Character Strengths Profile OR
   • If you don’t have your profile, refer to the list of 24 character and choose a strength that feels most natural 
2. Brainstorm ways you can apply this strength in different daily situations 
3. Each day, intentionally use the strength in a new way. 
4. Reflect on the impact of using your strength  
5. Follow this process for 7 days 

Resource Priming

1. Identify the situation or challenge you want to prepare for. Clearly identify what you’re facing and what you hope to achieve 
2. Decide how you want to handle the situation (e.g., with patience, creativity, or focus) 
3. Select a signature strength that fits the situation 
   • Refer to your Character Strengths Profile OR
   • If you don’t have your profile, refer to the list of 24 character and choose a strength that feels most natural 
4. Determine how you will use your signature strength to prepare for the situation
5. Reflect on how your strength helped you.

List of 24 Character Strengths 

VIA Survey  

Handout - Ways to Use Your Character Strengths in New Ways 

Viana, Your AI Strengths Coach

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This episode is a mini workshop and includes a Worksheet so you can follow along. 

Discover how your character strengths shape your breast cancer journey and enhance your resilience. Through self-reflection and practical activities, we explore tools that can transform challenges into opportunities for growth and joy. 
• Discusses the importance of character strengths in personal growth 
• Introduces the VIA strengths survey for personalized insights 
• Explores “strength spotting” as a self-reflective exercise 
• Highlights the four subsets of character strengths 
• Emphasizes the role of virtues in supporting one’s cancer journey 
• Encourages exploring strengths to foster resilience and joy 
• Provides actionable steps to utilize strengths daily

List of 24 Character Strengths: 

VIA Survey

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