Today's topic is learning what you can control because we somehow we believe we can control a situation or other people or even ourselves. Ha!!
"On a good day, the only thing you can control is yourself." - Danny Silk

Story: The time there was a suicide attempt in our house.

Problem and Stress: We quickly zoom in and focus on the things we cannot control. We feel stuck and tons of yucky, yucky emotions will wash over you.
Trying to control things you cannot control guarantees you stress and misery. 

Solution and Examples: It takes time to develop this muscle, but you have to zoom out to a place where you realize that you cannot control the thing you are focused on. You must begin to ask yourself, "What can I control here?".

People who sit and talk about the weather, politics, or their family members are spending their time on things they cannot control. 

We go through our real life processing about moving to a bigger house using the things we can and cannot control. 

Serenity Prayer 
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

Today's topic is underwear runs in the snow and how to build fun into the day to day grind. Vacations are awesome for 2 weeks, but living 50 other weeks of misery is not fun. Don't do it.

Story: The family underwear runs.

Problem and Stress: We can lose the ability to have fun and play. Most of us turn to "numbing" our life with Netflix binges or video gaming. Having fun is about building relationships within your friends and family. I promise you will be a stressed out mess if you operate with numbing and no fun.

Solution and Examples:You must become intentional about doing things for fun. We talk about the question game, joke books. trivia books, and gambling for bubble gum.

The 8 Play Personalities
https://caps.umich.edu/article/your-play-personality

Today's topic is how to always have the right perspective by building your muscle to zoom in or zoom out of the situation you are in. Some call it detachment, awareness, perspective or reframing.

Story: The time the boys were deer hunting.

Problem and Stress: We all become stressed when we cannot zoom in or zoom out of a problem. Stress comes from being locked into one perspective. Think of it like a microscope in 1 hand and a telescope in the other hand. You need both to understand.

Solution and Examples: When you hit a wall or a yucky emotion, develop your muscle of zooming in and zooming out of the problem. 
We discuss how this applies to corporate changes and your kids.

Today's topic is learning to pray when you are mad at God. 

Story: The times that Shawna journals when she is really ticked at God. The Bible verses that tell God that He is doing a really bad job at being God. 

Problem and Stress: People think they can only talk to God when they feel holy so they stop talking to God. Being pissed off is a part of the prayer cycle. Not praying will often lead you to more stress because your emotions become bottled. 

Solution and Examples: God can handle all our anger and rage at Him. The world is complex and just making prayer warm and fuzzy is not okay. Like any relationship, how authentic are you going to be?

The goal of pissed off prayer is to not stay there. Journal, move towards thankfulness, and talk to God like Tevye on Fiddler on the Roof.

Today's topic is what is an extrovert. The people who gain energy from being around others. 

Story: The time my wife didn't want to ever podcast because she wasn't energized with the thought of just talking alone in a room with her husband. (But her husband convinced her to picture herself in front of 1,000s of people).

Problem and Stress: If you don't understand how an extrovert needs to recharge with people, then you will be stressed and frustrated with yourself and others. 

Solution and Examples: Proactively schedule social time, out loud processing time, and other tips.

Also, if you have extroverted kids, you MUST help them find a good peer group. Your extroverted kids would rather have the wrong kids to hang out with than no kids to hang with. 

Today's topic is about an introvert. This is a person who recharges their energy by being alone. 
Story: The times that my wife wanted to kill me because she did not understand how an introvert operated. 

Problem and Stress: If you don't know how introverts operate, then you will be frustrated with yourself and other introverts. 

Solution and Examples: When you understand how introverts recharge their energy, then you can become proactive about your lifestyle. I want quiet, low lights, and lots of nature to recharge because I need my senses all turned down. Introverts also tend to be slower processing thoughts and emotions. 

If your child is an introvert, we talk about how and when to engage them.

Today's topic is How to Self Care.

Story- Susanna Wesley raising 19 kids. 

Problem/Stress: The lie we believe is that we are selfish to care for ourselves, but this creates tons of stress.

Solution and Examples: Self Care is like the oxygen mask dropping on the airplane. Put your mask on so that you can take care of others. 

Here is the bottom line = Your children will grow up to be like you. Do you want them to never care for themselves? Of course not. Baby step your way to take care of your spiritual, emotional, mental, relational, and physical self.

"To preserve health is a moral duty . . . we can no longer be useful when we are not well. "  - Samuel Johnson

Today's topic is Why you need an Evening Routine

Story: In the Bible, the day starts in the evening at sunset. So you begin your day with family time and sleep. 
Problem/Stress: You have very little brain power at the end of the day. You feel tired and stressed so it is difficult to know if you are doing the most important things. 

Solution / Examples: Plan your evening when you can think clearly. Don't start new projects and try to conquer the world. Connect with your family and relationships. Prepare for the next day. Go to sleep in a positive place of Bible reading, prayer or thankfulness.

Some things we do at night: set alarms, pick up all common areas of the house, run dishwasher, prep coffee pot, pick out clothes, cold shower, Bible study/ prayer with the kids. 

Today's topic is how to start a morning routine. 

Story: We share our testimonies about a great morning routine. 

Problem/ Stress: If you don't create your morning routine, you are going to react to life's problems. You will feel yucky and stressed out.

Solution/ Examples: Some elements we have in our morning routine: cold shower, breathing, yoga, exercise, journaling, Bible reading, gratitude, coffee, and looking over the day's schedule. You must 

Today's topic is how to move from reactive to proactive living. 

Story: the time they shoplifted.

Problem/Stress: If you spend your day reacting to everyone and everything else, you will always feel stress and worn out. You react to something when you have not trained or prepared for this. Of course, you cannot train for everything, but you must become proactive about these areas of life: health, spiritual growth, relationships, and work. 

Solution/Examples: You must start by deciding what you want your day to look like. It helps to have a 90 day goal/plan for your health, spiritual growth, relationships, and work. Start small and simple.