Negative thought: My ex is going to hate me for this and make me feel bad Situation: My ex walked out on me Dec 31. with mixed emotions about coming back or not. I have had no contact with him up until two days ago, and he is still not giving me a straight answer. Today he was coming by to pick up his mail. So, I prepared a document for him to sign, saying that as of this date _________ he will no longer be residing at the current address, and that I will solely take responsability of the lease. 1. Because I am giving him a no say in the situation, and asking him to pls remove his things asap. 2. This may be exactly what he wants. 3. It would be that he won't sign the paper, give me some kind of excuse, that he has no where to put his things. I would tell him that he has family, and they can store his belonings until he finds a place to live. 4. That he will sign the paper, and get the rest of his things so I can work on myself and continue with my new life. 5. That he will not sign the paper, and drag it on. I probably would agree with him because I feel sorry for him. 6. That I have to remain positive, and put aside his needs because mine now come first. 7. I would tell her to keep her chin up, and take a step forward. 8. The effect of believing in this negative thought, gives me courage to face the what might come of the situation. 9. I believe that I wouldn't have had the courage to compose the letter for him to sign. 10. I don't know if there are any alternatives.

hi Brenna, let's try this together... negative thought: I am a horrible mother for my daughter. situation: My day off and daughter says home with me due to coplaints of sore ear. after seeing the doctor, she desperately wants medication reguardless of what the doctor said. She is active and jumps around all afternoon. SHE IS A PEST, WON'T LISTEN, AND IS TRYING WHAT LITTLE PATIENCE I HAVE. Challenging: 1- I want to punish my little girl for not allowing me to have my day my way that I have been planing for a while. I want to be mean and childish because I am tired and I am not getting what I want. A good parent would not be so negative and would take advantage of the time to be together. 2- I have allowed her to stay home for a little cold and have a quiet day to allow her body to fight the cold that she has started. I know her pleas for medication are her way of expressing her discomfort. Only her body can take care of the problem and she cannot understand it right now. I remind her to eat healthy snacks and I hold her when she complains most to allow her to feel loved and cared for. 3 ? If I am the worst possible parent, I will allow her to see the therapist of her choice when she is old enough to know that I have made her crazy.-? 4- REMEMBER!! The best has already occured; my children spontaneously tell me they love me and I am the best they could hope for... 5- 6- I am being very negative and vindictive because I am emotionally worn out from yesterday's funeral. I have do not have the same level of energy and patience as I used to have. It is a moment in time. It will pass. 7- I have told a friend or two that ... they are human and sometimes the situation puts them between a rock and a hard place. The children have not been abused, negelcted nor hurt. A few frustrated thoughts to oneself hurts no one and allows you to gauge how much you need a simple pleasure. 8-Believeing this negative thought only hurts me more and reinforces a whole wall of negative thoughts. I use this thought as part of a series of proofs that I a miserable human being. This negative thought causes wounds to my spirit that I need too much energy to heal. 9- I do not know what would happen, I guess that I would not have one step in that downward spiral. Would I just jump down or would the missing negative thought halt the slide? 10- alternatives, I can not discuss this with the little one to find a common area of resolution.. I have spoken to my husband on the way home, and he knows that I upset. I feel like a bad parent and he knows that the little one tries my patience. He has reminded me that we are very alike and we tend to provoke each other... as she grows and learns moderation, we will get along better.

In your quest to track your negative thoughts, you may have had trouble challenging them and you may now be wondering how to challenge them. The following 10 questions will help you to challenge any negative thought. When you have a negative thought, try to answer these 10 questions: 1. What’s the evidence that the thought is true? 2. What’s the evidence that the thought is not true? 3. What is the worst possible thing that could happen and how would you cope if it did happen? 4. What’s the best possible thing that could happen? 5. What would most likely happen and how would you cope if that happened? 6. What’s another way of thinking about this situation? What else could be going on? 7. What would you tell a friend of yours if they were in this situation and had the same negative thought? 8. What’s the effect of believing the negative thought? 9. What would happen if you didn’t believe the negative thought? 10. What are some alternative thoughts in this situation? Today we encourage you to look at your tracking results and share what patterns you have identified. Brenna, Bilingual Health Educator