Sterling Jaquith caught herself feeling a very particular brand of summer jealousy. Friends whose parents are stable enough, healthy enough, and trusted enough to take the grandkids for a week or two. And watching that feeling rise was a perfect window into something we all do: we never question why we feel good, but the moment a negative feeling shows up, we start poking at it, and the poking spins into a storm.

In this episode Sterling slows the whole thing down so you can see the difference between prayerfully feeling your feelings and indulging in what a friend called "tornado thinking." One is slow, grounded, and resolves. The other is fast, grows as it goes, and turns a bad mood into a bad day into a "bad season." Nobody is doing that to you, and that's actually the good news. You have more control over the weather in your mind than you think.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:

• The summer jealousy Sterling noticed in herself, and what it was actually about (hint: not the free time)
• Why we interrogate our negative feelings but never stop to question the happy ones
• The real difference between feeling your feelings (slow, grounded, done with the Lord) and tornado thinking (fast, growing, catching everything in its path)
• How a bad mood becomes a bad day becomes a "bad season," and why you control that weather more than you think
• The three choices in any triggered moment: think about it later, feel it all the way through, or spin
• How to walk yourself back gently and lovingly, never in an authoritarian "just get it together" voice

EPISODE TIMELINE:

• [00:00] – The summer jealousy Sterling noticed, and why we never question feeling good
• [04:00] – Tornado thinking versus actually feeling your feelings
• [08:00] – How a bad mood becomes a bad day becomes a bad season (the weather you forget you control)
• [12:00] – What feeling your feelings really looks like: slow, named, and sitting with the Lord
• [16:00] – Why jealousy reveals your unresolved work (Europe versus the grandparents)
• [18:00] – Calming the storm by speaking to yourself with love

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Calm Catholic Kids: https://calmcatholickids.com

CONNECT WITH STERLING JAQUITH:

• Website: https://catholicmomcalm.com
• Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholicmomcalm