Day 186 - Don't Hide Your Emotions

365 daily emails to help you through the grieving process Grief support groups: Click here to find a GriefShare group near you. If you would like to find a group for a friend or relative, try our Search Page. Want to read ahead or resend a previous daily email? Click Here Don’t Hide Your Emotions Day 186 Do not try to hide your feelings from your children. You will not be successful! Think back over the past few days and identify times when you held back your true emotions and "put on a happy face" for the sake of your children. Your children are experiencing different degrees of the same feelings you are. If you cover up your emotions, your children will follow your example. One suggestion to help your family communicate their emotions to each other is with a "Feelings Chart." Write on the chart "Today I feel …" and attach a piece of Velcro in the space after "feel." (You may want to have a space for each family member.) Then, draw faces or write down emotions on several circles of heavy paper and attach Velcro on the backs. Include as many different emotions as you can think of. Remember that younger children may need simpler words and pictures, but older children and adults will need a wide range of words to help them better identify and express their emotions. Here are some ideas, which can be adapted to meet your needs: sad, lonely, angry, confused, guilty, bitter, rejected, helpless, afraid, worried, disappointed, resentful, jealous, inadequate, vindictive, depressed, lost, abandoned, betrayed, sorrowful, better, so-so, relieved, okay, not bad, hopeful, peaceful, reassured, thankful, secure, insecure, unloved, loved, encouraged, joyful. Each day find the emotion that best describes how you feel at any given time and place that word on the chart. Have your other family members do this as well. God promises to be with you through all of your emotional turmoil. He also promises to comfort, heal, and strengthen you. God's Word is full of promises for you. "There hath not failed one word of all his good promise" (1 Kings 8:56 KJV). Thank you, Father, that You will never fail me. Help me to see the big picture beyond my tangled emotions. Amen. Grieving with Hope This GriefShare-based book contains short, topical chapters addressing issues that grieving people face but are often hesitant to mention to others; it gently guides people to determine whether they're grieving in a way that leads to hope and ultimate healing. Look for Grieving with Hope by Samuel Hodges and Kathy Leonard at a local or online bookstore or at griefshare.org/hope. If you would like to recommend these daily emails to a friend, please click here and choose one of the options under Share. For more information about GriefShare, including how to sign up for these daily emails, please click here. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2003-2013 by The Church Initiative, Inc., All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit permission in writing from Church Initiative. You subscribed to this daily email through www.griefshare.org. We value your privacy! We will never give, sell, rent, or otherwise share your email or personal information with any other organization — EVER. To remove this email address from further mailings Click Here while connected to the internet. If you have any problems or concerns, please contact dailyemailsupport@griefshare.org. GriefShare 250 S. Allen Rd. Wake Forest, NC 27587 (800) 395-5755