Tool BOX of practices for healthy living and communication

"You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with  all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

Through challenging life circumstances many of us will find ourselves feeling anxious and stressed.  Not being in our regular routines can make us feel irritable and out of sorts.  Those of us who live with others may find communication in our relationships more of a struggle as we remain indoors.  Others who live alone may feel isolated and sad.  

First we need to remember - We are not alone - a family member or friend is just a phone call away.  Reaching out is important!  Remember this circumstance will not last forever and there are resources available to make life more manageable at this time.

The following are important reminders about good communication and relationship building:

• Learn to listen to the feelings of another person rather than listening to place blame or find fault in what they are saying.
• Empathizing and validating how someone feels goes a long way in building healthy relationships.
• Avoid assuming you know how another person feels or why they feel what they feel.
• Learn to respond in situations rather than react.  Responding always allows us to manage our emotions so that we don't hurt others with our words but rather think out what and how we want to communicate.
• Be present with a person in their pain/sorrow/difficulty rather than offering solutions or platitudes.
• Timeliness matters especially when wanting to talk about differences, or need to make a serious decision.
• Remember the acronym HALT.  We need to ask ourselves are we or the other person Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired?  If so, this may not be the best time to talk.
• Practice the 24/48 Hour Rule.  Waiting 24/48 hours before an important discussion regarding conflict(s) can help us think out how to best share what we think and feel.
• Watch for extremes in our thinking - "always, never."  Things are rarely always one way or never another way there's usually a middle ground.
• Try not to demonize another person.
• Allow ourselves and others the space to be human.
• No one is perfect we all need practice to improve.
• Change takes time.
• Progress not perfection.

As we go through this time together we can apply some of these practices in our daily lives and in doing so we will follow the Lord's greatest commandment to love Him, others and ourselves well!

In Him,

RISE NYC Team