In this episode, Ken begins by recapping some of what heshared last week and the assignment he gave the group. He said that success is not determined by how others respond to us, but by whether we show up as the person we want to be, based on our best thinking. Emotional maturity is the growing capacity to consistently live in alignment with who we want to be. Rather than reacting out of anxiety to the people in our lives, we live out our guiding principles. For followers of Jesus, this means aligning our lives with the way of Jesus and continuing to show up this way even when others disapprove.

Ken explained that in order to do this we must identify the places where we get triggered. We have to grow in awareness of our triggers and learn to be curious about what the threat is for us. From there, we can develop guiding principles—written declarations that define who we want to be and how we want to show up in the world. True success in anxious situations is found not in how others respond, but in living according to these principles. And while putting our guiding principles into words is an important beginning, we have to practice our way into deeper emotional maturity.

Ken’s assignment last week was to write a guiding principlefor how we want to show up in anxious situations and to come prepared this week with our reflections and stories about attempting to put them into practice (whether successfully or not). Following the recap, Ken opened the floor, and group members shared their experiences, which was instructive for us all.

This episode was recorded on May 1st, 2026.