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Stop / HALT
Just stop and breathe for a moment. Are you Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired? The HALT feelings are physically-based and only temporary. Remember that!
Determine what the problem is
Sure there can be (and usually ARE) more than just *one* problem but even still, write the problem(s) down on a piece of paper.
Come up with THREE possible courses of action
Start with one of your problems and come up with three (and only three - not a hundred, not just one) possible things you could do.
Figure out which one is best for now
You don't have to make a lifelong commitment right now and if things don't work out quite the way you'd hoped they would, you can work the steps again and again and again - just like everyone else does!
DO IT!
I say that assuming you haven't chosen suicide. Obviously, that's the ultimate final solution (assuming you'd succeed). Nothing will happen to change the situation/problem until you actually DO something, no matter how small. A change in your situation, outlook, etc. requires a change from within yourself. In order for that internal change to have effect on the outside, tangible world, you must take action to implement that change.
1. Stop HALT
I am angry, lonely and tired.
2. Determine what the problem is
-- I feel not at peace, unhappy and stressed. I'm unsatisfied and uncomfortable with how my rhetorical class is going. I feel sad and tired.
3. Come up with three possible solutions:
-- self care (spend some time listing the positive coping mechanisms I've used in the last few hours.)
-- study
--look at photos because I"m feeling nostalgic
4. Determine what is best for now ...
It's 1:00 a.m. What is best for now is to get a good night's sleep, study in the morning and then go take my test. How do I accomplish that? Marcia used to say that the sadder you felt, the more self care you need. Sometimes, it is hard to find the time. School, and my own worries, take over. But, without mental health, what do we have?
My plan: to review my notecards briefly for the test tomorrow. And then, to write my grateful list for the day, and list the coping mechanisms I've used today in my journal. And then, I'll listen to my tape recorder of positive messages.
5. Commit
Goodnight
_________________
"I can lose my hard-earned freedom if my fear defines my world. I declare my independence from the critics and the stones. I declare my revolution, I can learn to stand alone."
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