Dear Teen,
Here’s my lame analogy. If you wake up in the morning and it’s raining outside and you say, “I can’t believe it’s raining! I’m going to get all wet and today is going to be horrible.” What kind of day do you think you are going to have? If you wake up in the morning and it’s raining and you say, “Yay! It’s raining! I love the rain! Now I can wear my new cool rain boots!” What kind of day do you think you will have? No brainer. A great day! It’s all about the messages you tell yourself…all day long. It’s also about choice, choosing to see things in a positive way or not. Changing a message from negative to positive is not always easy and may take some time. It’s going to take a commitment to change. Try writing down your new message everywhere, like your bathroom mirror or on the inside cover of your binder or set your phone up with a message reminder, so you will be constantly reminded. Here’s an example. If you tell yourself “I’m not a good test taker” it may set you up to not even try. If you say “I’m going to prepare for this test and do the best I can” it keeps you in a positive mood. Here’s another example. ” I’m not good at anything.” Try “I am going to find some things I like to do and explore doing them!” Turn any negative message into a positive one and make sure they are your own words to yourself so that you truly connect with the message. Doing this can work with any subject: school, friends, self, family, activities and sports. Anything. It’s all about creating positive messages and working it until they become natural for you, until the positive overtakes the negative! Most good things don’t come easy so be ready to try hard and do your best. And when you do make a new message that effects a change, be proud of yourself!
Original Art by Michael McRoskey 2015