Even when depressed and down we are all still unique, and we each deserve unique approaches to healing depression that give us hope for a better future. Not that it’s easy, and at times it requires medications, therapy or both to help balance chemicals that work against wellbeing.
Especially critical is the ability to feel heard but not judged when we feel sad, lonely or depressed. In fact criticism can keep us defaulting back to fears that caused us to be anxious or down in the first place. Some seniors even run to embrace a project or event that appears much easier. We often hear or witness how something that looks like happiness or humor and can temporarily disguise the depressed feelings suffered.
For some seniors, age itself can be an antidote to feeling inadequate. George Clooney recalled, “I remember asking Rosemary Clooney, (his aunt) why she’s a better singer at 70 than she was at 21. …She shot back, ‘because I don’t have to prove I can sing anymore.”
Similarly, relations that once faced growing pains, can morph into a better place over long periods of time. On her long marriage to Michael Williams, Judy Dench said, “We grew just happy to be in the same room together.”
“Fearlessness is not the absence of fear. It’s the mastery of fear that increases our emotional health. It’s getting to the point in senior years where our fears do not stop us from daring to approach new experiences, thinking new thoughts, trying new things, taking bigger risks, failing without regrets, and starting again by simply getting up one more time than we fall down.” Gracie Allen described it as refusing to place a period, where God placed a comma.
A growth mindset tool in an anxious senior’s hands will often produce better results than a traditional tool in a fixed mindset senior’s hands.
“Language becomes magic to seniors who track their progress in ways that make gratitude a habit when things are going well. Not knowing when angst or depression may strike, we can come to every door with an open-minded approach to enjoy what’s there for us.
Depression is often averted by strategies such as Mita Growth Mindset tools, that have us forgiving ourselves and offering self-kindness in ways that add courage to forgive others.
We may not realize that depression alters and is altered by toxic chemicals such as cortisol, that can shave 10 years off our lives, and can even shrink the human brain. Let’s consider together what our brains look like when running on cortisol chemicals.
The Brain on Cortisol
Listen to angry rhetoric, envy those who get ahead, or engage in name-calling and we are triggering a brain fueled by dangerous stress chemicals, or toxins that can take down entire groups mentally or emotionally.
Stress (or the cortisol hormone) is often a precursor to depression, and so it’s a good idea to see it and step away in advance of its toxic impacts.
One way to step away from the stress that comes from and defaults to a fixed mindset is to do an opposite or growth mindset counterpoint action.
Long before we realize the stress problem we encounter, our brain may already be wired to fail. Simple choices we make about moods today though, will likely surprise us with tomorrow’s mood changes. How so?
Yield to worry, for instance – and we could be opening windows to stress hormones that appear as savior but strike as killer.
Out of Sorts? Let’s say we find ourselves crankier than normal. We may suffer anxiety, or fear that stops us from taking that risk that will help us ace our next driver’s test. When anxiety wins, we’ve likely stirred up a dangerous chemical hormone in our brain that replaces relationships, courage, solutions, and general well being with a hopelessness and downer that’s hard to shake.
Shrinking our Brain? Cortisol is a potent chemical that surges when we slip into stress, and is now recognized as a drug that can literally shrink human brains. It leaves other damaging footprints behind too, that luckily can be avoided through awareness of its trickery. Researchers have known for some time, for instance, that cortisol shuts down learning, creates anxiety attacks and can cause lasting depression.
Less known, until recently, are tactics to counter cortisol surges successfully.
Ready to create a stress-free zone?
Some may be saying … but cortisol has useful purposes, and that’s correct. It’s a short term chemical which is useful to treat allergies, or zap us with the energy to survive a shocking moment.
Cortisol can also lower sensitivity to pain, help us to survive grief, or pull us through a short term pressure project.
One of the most reliable ways to side-step last depression for seniors is to plan stress-free spaces, or zones that foster activities such as exercise or yoga, or meditation that lower cortisol and can raise serotonin wellbeing levels.
Imagine an area where learners love to meet, stress can’t survive, and laughter livens all!
Stress’ Long-term Effects
Long-term cortisol surges though, where we maintain harmful levels, can be highly dangerous. Research shows cortisol to:
1. Lower immune systems
2. Slow down thinking
3. Create blood sugar imbalances
4. Raise our blood pressure
5. Weaken muscle tissue
6. Decrease bone density
7. Increase fat to stomach areas.
Can you see why we may react negatively when under the influence of harmful chemical surges?
Escape Daily Does of Cortisol
To flee from or lower dangerous levels of cortisol:
a. Relax, listen to music, take a walk, and run from stress.
b. Spend time with upbeat people, laugh, and steer away from cynics.
c. Manage time, create doable daily targets, and avoid overloads
d. Take up a sport, do stairs, park far from doors and avoid passivity.
e. Give away things, care, join Rotary, and run from financial anxiety.
f. Teach from our strengths, inspire excellence, yet flee perfectionism.
g. Propose winning solutions and we’ll avoid fixation on problems we face.
You get the idea, and will likely have better alternatives than mine, to sidestep cortisol’s confinement. Strange as it may seem, the key is to do the opposite of whatever creates cortisol. To do the opposite of a cortisol response, is to rewire the brain for more serotonin guided behaviors.
22 Stressors Come on an Ordinary Day
People who deal with stress remind us how to take control of that “out of sorts feeling” and how to avoid the kind of cortisol an angry colleague might bring…. We’re told that on average 22 stressors hit us daily. Wonder what these 22 might look like?
In each stressor below – our responses work for or against our brain:
1. The alarm goes off at the deepest part of sleep and long before we are ready to rise.
2. We bulge over the waistline of our favorite slacks and don’t have time to change.
3. Our partner is lively and cheerful while we feel like quiet and even a bit of gloom.
4. Gas is low in our car and we don’t have time to stop for a fill before an appointment.
5. Roadwork keeps us waiting past the point where we can stop into Starbucks for the Latte we dashed out the door in time to grab.
6. No parking spot exists near our building, and we have five minutes before our appointment.
7. We worked all morning on a gardening project and the dog tore it to shreds.
8. A leader wants to know why our grandson quit and what we are doing to help while we see the problem as the leader’s poor tone skills.
9. We left our agenda home – and after we’d called a neighborhood meeting where we reminded people to be there and come prepared.
10. The air conditioner broke and we wore a warm suit jacket that cannot be removed.
11. Our help is sick and forgot to tell us about another frequent absence.
12. The person we dislike applied for a part time position we planned to go after.
13. We forgot our lunch and there is no break to get out to get one before our long meeting.
14. Four negative stories about us come back from family members and all were relayed as anonymous.
15. The phone rings more than usual and interrupts the memo that we promised to have written by the end of the day.
16. Our allergies go crazy because the guy next door brought his dog over and set them off – the one day we don’t have meds with us.
17. The man who asks us a favor, often complains to others about us, according to peers – but he is all smiles and warm words when he’s after something.
18. The family calls to tell us with regret, why they’ll not be attending our special event.
19. The guy next door plays a jazz station outside all day, and we hate jazz but can’t find words to tell him.
20. We were in charge of church coffee this month and it ran out so we have no coffee and friends remind us hourly why they too need caffeine.
21. The woman who chews gum loudly and talks endlessly on the phone, tells a bad joke – one that we’ve heard her tell many times –and that still isn’t funny.
22. We head home – knowing there will be no dinner prepared tonight – instead we agreed to dinner out later with a person who loves hot and greasy food – and who talks about self incessantly.
Whew, 22 stressors! What a tough challenge packed into one day, and we are said to have that many again tomorrow. Do you see propensity for cortisol?
Some people respond with serotonin, and find grace and calm in response. Others find these stressors can stir up cortisol in ways that leave them angry, stressed or anxious.
Do you have a unique strategy that works well when stressors strike on a busy day?
Enter the namungo gang to buffer your brain!
From Stress to Success
Luckily the human brain also comes fine tuned for serotonin success, through doing healthier actions. For example, our brain will rewire dendrite brain cells for serotonin well-being and growth plasticity in areas that had once created cortisol imbalances.
It’s worth an effort to make a few changes, when we think about the rewards. People who do so, tend to replace cortisol crankiness for serotonin serenity. It’s also true that some people come with lower levels of this drug, or seem to generate fewer fluctuating cortisol surges. Have you noticed how calm and rational some people are – even if a hairy spider meanders past?
Spiders aside, did you know that we have more growth mindset choices than some realize when those 22 stressors creep in on us even when we least expect them.
Assumptions Can Cause Conflicts
Our assumptions can also bring blessings all around. It’s really a matter of going after grit, grace or “gotcha” grievances where blame blocks our brain’s gateways into grace.
How so?
Let’s say somebody wants to meet up in order to blame somebody else we happen to care for deeply. Perhaps a co-worker, a marriage partner, or a friend feels slighted by a person we know. Let’s say we agree to meet with the wounded person, but ask ahead that no toxic assumptions be brought up to smear the other side. What will result? Growth or grievance?
Or what about cutting assumptions that lead to blaming family or friends for our lack of fun or freedom? Assumptions generated by our inner critic cause us to blame ourselves for personal failures or flaws, and that blocks our gateways into mercy and grace to go forward and delight in growth.
I was once asked to share an overall takeaway insight from a workshop on how grace heals blame. I offered this: “The opposite of blame as our lived experience is the assumption that every human is created in the image of a higher power, where divine love and inner gifts of growth can bring blessings that convert “gotcha” grievances into grit and grace for ourselves and others.” Correct assumptions open doors to innovation.
How then, can our inner gift of grace heal us if we feel blamed by a person who’d rather not discuss the problem or possibilities here? It often depends on our actions, whether we head into growth or guilt. See below how criticizing others intensifies a fixed and depressed mode as it takes on cortisol. See how growth invents, creates, and innovates with serotonin upticks.
| Growth is amplified through … | Guilt is amplified through… |
| Listening | Judging |
| Affirming | Blaming |
| Empathizing | Criticizing |
| Challenging | Bullying |
| Risking | Fearing |
| Forgiving | Regretting |
| Comforting | Accusing |
We know that grace releases and sustains its aha chemical serotonin to our brains when we act from the list on the left. Sadly guilt or regret with its cortisol toxins get unleashed from our actions on the right. Because false assumptions often cause conflicts, such as feeling slighted or blaming family or friends for our misfortune, it’s vital to examine assumptions frequently. The opposite of blame is a growth mindset that listens without judging, affirms people’s strengths without blaming them for weaknesses.
To examine assumptions with an open mind is also to empathize rather than criticize, challenge without bullying and forgive in ways that prevent conflicts that come from fear of failure or habits of accusing others.
We release the chemical serotonin to our brains when we act from correct assumptions. In stark contrast, we release cortisol toxins by mistreating others or demanding to be “right”, based on false assumptions. The choice seems obvious when we consider the fact that toxins keep us conflicted in and in the dark, while serotonin fuels growth and opens up fun adventures that take risk, honesty and correct assumptions.
We now know that stress often precedes depression, and depression locks us into a fixed mindset where we see problems and often fail to create possibilities. We also know that awareness is typically the first step into launching an improved situation. Below are eight common settings where we choose to step beyond depression in favor of self-kindness. Which of the 8 scenarios do you easily fit or have learned to flex for growth and away from stress?
“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” ~Unknown
Presumably, not all seniors have suffered incomprehensible tragedies. What they have in common is pain, born from different adversities and circumstances though.
When we’re hurting some people might tell us to “let it go,” as if that’s a valid solution. Some may say “it’s all in your head” and assume that reasons away the pain. But none of that will help us heal or find happiness from moment to moment.
Like everyone, I’ve been hurt, in both profound and trivial ways. I’ve had to acknowledge my feelings, process them, and then find ways to work through them so I could let go of regrets and tragedies in order to move past depression. Here’s what helped most.
1. Define our pain.
It’s not always easy to identify and understand what’s hurting us. Some people even stay in abusive relationships because it’s safer than acknowledging our many layers of pain: the low self-esteem that convinces us we deserve abuse, the shame over being treated cruelly, and the feeling of desperation that convinces us there’s no real way out.
The first step toward finding happiness after having been hurt is to understand why we were hurt, to get to the root of everything that makes the memories hard.
2. Feel and express that pain.
There’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to communicate how we feel to the person who hurt us, and if we can, there’s no guarantee they’ll respond how we want them to. Say what we need to say anyway. Write in our journal. Write a letter and burn it. Get it all out.
This will help us understand why we’re hurting and what we’ll do in future to avoid similar pain, so we can feel empowered instead of victimized or depressed.
Research has actually proven that people who focus on lessons learned while journaling find the experience more helpful than people who don’t.
3. Try to stay in the present.
Reliving the past can be addictive. It gives us the opportunity to do it again and respond differently—to fight back instead of submitting, to speak our mind instead of silencing ourselves. It also allows us to possibly understand better. What happened? Where did we go wrong? What should we do to take lessons from our past that will grow a finer future?
Regardless of what we think we should have done, we can’t do it now. If we have post-traumatic stress disorder, we may need professional help to avoid revisiting the incident. If we don’t, we’ll need sustained effort, because healing take time, resilience and grit. Fight the urge to relive the pain over and over. We can’t go back and find happiness there. We can however experience happiness now that we are ready to move on over time.
4. Stop rehashing the story.
Sometimes we tell a sad story over and over again as a way to avoid moving past it.
This focus may seem like another way to understand what happened, or maybe it feels helpful to hear someone say we didn’t do anything wrong and we don’t deserve to hurt.
It’s okay to mull over miserable memories for a while. But if we remain there too long we’ll get stuck and depressed over a memory as we give it power to control us. No amount of reassurance will change what happened. We can’t find happiness by holding onto a painful story and letting it control our lives. We can however find happiness when we let misery go, take away a lesson learned from its memory and make room for something better to follow.
If telling our story empowers us and helps other people, then by all means share! Only we know where we are mentally and emotionally and whether telling our story is helping us.
5. Forgive ourselves.
Maybe we didn’t do anything wrong but we blame ourselves anyway. Or maybe we played a role in creating our current situation. Regardless of what happened, we can remind ourselves that what we did is not who we are. And even if we feel immense regret, we deserve to start again without carrying that weight. We deserve a break.
We can either punish ourselves and submit to misery, or forgive ourselves and create the possibility of happiness. It comes down to whether we decide to dwell on or move on. Which will we choose: anger with ourselves and prolonged pain, or forgiveness and its peace?
6. Stop playing the blame or victim game.
Maybe we were a victim. Maybe someone did horrible things to hurt us, or we fell into an unfortunate set of circumstances through no fault of our own. It still doesn’t serve us to sit around feeling bad for ourselves, or blaming other people. In fact, it only holds us back. We can’t feel good if we use this moment to feel bad about another person’s actions.
The only way to experience happiness is to take responsibility for creating it, whether other people made it easy for us or not. We may not be responsible for what happened to us in the past but we’re responsible for our attitude now. Why let someone who hurt us in the past have power over our present? Why let them live in our heads rent free?
7. Don’t let past pain become our identity.
If everything we do and if our close relationships center around something that hurt us, it will be harder to move on. We may even come to appreciate what that identity gives us: attention, the illusion of understanding, or the warmth of compassion, for example.
Let’s consider the possibility there’s a greater sense of happiness in completely releasing our story. That we’d feel better than we can even imagine if we’d stop letting our pain define us. We can hold space for a sad story in our past without building our present purpose and dreams around its sorrow.
8. Reconnect with who we were before the pain.
It’s not easy to release a pain identity, particularly if we’ve carried it around for a long time. It may help to remember who we were before a bad experience—or to consider who we might have become if it hadn’t happened. We can still be that person, someone who doesn’t feel bitter or angry so frequently.
If we want to feel peaceful and happy, start by identifying what that looks like—what we think about, what we do, how we interact with people. Odds are this process of awareness will remind us both how we want to be and how we don’t want to be.
9. Focus on things that bring us joy in the moment.
We don’t have to focus on completely letting go of our pain forever. We just have to make room for joy right now. Start simple. What’s something we can enjoy in this moment, regardless of what pain we’ve experienced? Would sitting in the sun bring us joy? Would calling our sister or brother bring us joy?
Don’t think about the totality of the rest of our days. That’s a massive burden to carry—haven’t we hurt enough? Just focus on now, and allow ourselves a little peace. We’ll be surprised how easily “nows” can add up when we focus on them as they come.
10. Share that joy with other people.
We often isolate ourselves when we’re hurting because it feels safer than showing people our vulnerability. What we fail to realize is that we don’t have to feel vulnerable all the time. We can choose certain people for support, and then allow ourselves time with others without involving our painful stories.
We can share a meal, a movie, a moment and give ourselves a break from our anger or sadness. We don’t have to carry it through every moment of our day. No worry—if we feel a need to remember it, we’ll still be able to recall it later. But as we allow for pockets of peace, shared with people we love, we may well find we need that story a lot less.
To be clear, we have a right to feel whatever we feel. And we don’t have to rush through our sadness or anger. We all need time and space to process our feelings. But there comes a time when we need to consciously choose to heal, forgive, let go, and move on. It’s a process, and it won’t be easy. But we deserve it and serotonin supports it.
Everyone deserves to feel happy. Everyone deserves a little peace. One more thing we all have in common: we can only provide those things for ourselves that lead away from stress, anxiety and depression. Here below are a few suggestions that may help.
A. Practice possibility thinking to appreciate the good in our lives. Remember that regardless of what happens, we are not broken forever and there is nothing basically wrong with us. Some situations may change the way we think at times, but nothing can change the fact that there is still good to achieve in life. Reconnect with activities we enjoy and recognize any positive things happening in our lives. Start a gratitude journal that focuses on things that are going well in life. Over time, we may find that we have much to be happy and thankful for.[7]
If we have close friends or family members, or even a beloved pet, take time to connect with them and appreciate the positive difference they make in our lives. Take time to appreciate even small things such as a delicious cup of tea, or a movie we really enjoyed.
B. Let go of the negative. Think possibility. Recognize that filling our heads with negative chatter can actually bring our day down. If we find ourselves thinking negatively, catch awareness of the moment and let go of the negative thought. We can shift into a more positive place by choice.[8] For example, challenge a negative thought, such as, “I will never know good wholesome people who aren’t trying to manipulate me,” by thinking of any person you know who has shown kindness and trustworthiness. Once we identify at least one person who fits into a positive purpose we have invalidated the negative claim.
Did you know? When we’re used to thinking negatively, it’s harder to shift into possibility thinking. We can make the transition more easily by first replacing negative thoughts with more neutral and realistic ones.[9]
C. Surround ourselves with happy people. People like our family, friends, a special someone, and many others can help renew our faith in humanity after being hurt. Be inspired by them to recover and eventually move on from that hurt feeling.[10] If we don’t have a close friend, try taking a class or joining a club for people who share our interests. These are great ways to meet new people and connect with activities that bring joy. Find friends we can talk to and perhaps the hurt becomes a testimony to share with others. We may be able to use past pain as a forewarning so that others to avoid the same issue.
For example, we might say to a friend, “Hey, Samantha, can we talk? I wanted to tell you about something that happened to me…” Then, you might share your story. Ask for support by saying something like, “I could really use a hug right now.”
D. Take responsibility for our own actions and feelings. If we own our part in what happened to us, we have the opportunity to become empowered and find growth from the experience. This does not mean we have to take all the blame or feel ashamed of what happened. Instead, take an honest look at any mistakes we made or any lessons we may be able to take from the experience. We may find it freeing to know what we can change going forward to avoid repeating the problem. This is one way to take back our power and stop giving other people or personal circumstances power over us.
E. Share our story with someone we trust. Sometimes, being able to talk about something that hurt us can lessen the pain. Allow time and freedom to cry, laugh, and tell the stories we wish to share. We may find things that seem like a huge problem suddenly aren’t as bad when we share our experiences with friends.[11] Feeling sad or in pain is not something we should hide from those around us. It’s hard to get our needs met if we don’t tell people we are close to that we need their support.
We might start by saying something like, “I’ve been meaning to tell you all about what I have been going through. You may not know it, but you have been a great source of support for me…“ We can also attend a support group for people who have been through similar experiences and share our story with them.
F. Take good care of ourselves. It’s hard to start feeling better emotionally if we’re not caring for ourselves physically. Even if we don’t feel like doing anything, do eat, sleep on a regular schedule, and exercise. Make a commitment to support feeling better by self-care.[12] Treating ourselves with kindness when we’ve been hurt is an important part of the recovery process. Aim to eat a healthy, balanced diet, perform at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day, and sleep at least 7-9 hours each night.
It may also help to engage in some self-care activities that help us reduce stress, like reading a book or playing fetch with our dog. In addition to caring for our physical and emotional health, practicing self-care can also mean keeping up with practical matters. Try to take a little time each day to deal with things that we need to get done, like meal planning, paying bills, or getting healthy and enjoyable groceries.
G. Set personal boundaries for the future. If we’ve been hurt in a relationship, establishing clear boundaries can help prevent similar problems in the future. Come up with a list of basic needs and non-negotiables for our relationships to have on hand in the days to come. It is up to us to assert ourselves and let others know what we expect from a friendship or relationship.[13] This list can serve as a guide for the sort of interactions we want to have with others. If we’ve ever felt like our needs are not being met based on the boundaries we’ve set, then we can head off issues before they spread into new hurts or betrayals.
We might include guidelines such as not being in relationships with people who expect us to compromise our values, not dealing with people who abuse drugs or engage in criminal activity, or not putting undue effort into a one-sided relationship.
Make sure we communicate our boundaries clearly with others, and also let them know what the consequences will be if they don’t respect those boundaries. For example, “I love you, Sis, but I won’t be able to visit for the holidays if you keep making critical comments about my weight.”
What is inner happiness and where is it hiding when we are depressed?
With depression and sorrow at all time highs we are led to ask, “ Does inner healing and happiness go hand in hand when we try to regain hope?” Consider how joy fills the center of some seniors and acts as evidence of wonder which is fully in play. How though, might we too help to restore this union of healing and happiness back to the millions who appear to have lost any sense of personal wellbeing, much less miss life’s sometimes silly play?
As discussed previously a thankful heart offers us one remedy against depression and sorrow. Sure, we may have to alter expectations a bit, because rigid expectations can destroy any hopes for happiness. Would you agree that if we access highways into happiness with its laughter, we’ll also open a crossroad into even more genuine gratitude opportunities?
Unreasonable expectations can dash any hope of happiness here though. Years ago, the Clark family expected to board a ship in Scotland to travel to the US. Their lifetime dream got cruelly crushed when their son became ill and the family required 14 days of quarantine at the same time they were to have boarded the ship. Nothing could console the Clark family, until a breaking news report informed the world that their ship, The Titanic, shockingly sank and many lives were lost. Hearing this terrible fate, the family thanked God for an intervention that seemed a tragedy at first, but that transformed into blessings for this family in the end, since they were spared.
Happiness is sometimes seen as a utopian state most seniors crave, and yet few realize. Ask happy elders where their joy and laughter comes from and they tell us happiness comes with awareness, is the work of grace and often resides in those who cultivate a free and fun spirit.
It’s true that nobody who lives in this chaotic and crazy world, feels happy 24/7. Nevertheless, joy and delight are available much more than most of us unwrap or experience this life-changing gift. Also true is that we live in the past, at happiness’ peril, especially if we wallow in missteps or miseries.
One surefire way into happiness is to remain open-minded, and to learn new approaches or possibilities regardless of age or education. We step beyond our old ways and allow others to teach new ways through their eyes, and their understanding. We garner happiness for all when we listen more, and create incredible new perspectives side by side with those around us. We consider @oxherdboy’s question to the Ox:
“Will you teach me everything you know?” the boy asked.
“I don’t think so,” replied the Ox.
“It would be better to relearn life with you than teach you my old ways.”
Imagine how we seniors regain happiness by relearning with our grandchildren. What if seniors could lead the way to reinstate happiness into lives of all ages, and personalities. Could it work?
Discussion Questions that help us continue to enjoy a growth mindset as a way to side=step cortisol:
Senior Session 3 – Depressed, Anxious or Stress-Free?
Two – Footed Questions to Address Mita Growth Mindset Senior Sessions
1). Because today’s the oldest we’ve ever been and the youngest we’ll ever be again, what would give us more mental and emotional superpowers to enjoy as seniors?
2). Why do feel fee sad or depressed or in a bad mood almost all day?
3). Why does depression or anxiety rob enjoyment in things that were once pleasurable?
4). Can depression bring major changes in weight gain or loss of weight?
5). Will depression affect sleep, weight and appetite?
6). Is depression helped with meds, therapy or exercise?
7). Does depression sometimes cause back or abdominal pain?
8). What can be done to prevent suicidal thoughts, hopelessness, or inability to feel pleasure
9). What kind of lifestyle changes help with our symptoms of depression?
10) What happens to a brain on depression for longer periods?
11). Is it possible to rarely feel anxious or act cranky? If so how so?
FINAL Question: What’s one activity above that we can do to remove a fixed mindset and add a growth mindset for this topic? Choose one topic from the chart above, titled: “How Many Flexible or Growth Mindset Statements …”. Then act on three fun ways to do these to help a discouraged or depressed senior, based on chart’s tips.
My Growth Mindset Materials and Publications Below
Grace Mindset Book – paperback
The Teen’s Growth Mindset Workbook – paperback
Growth Mindset Interactive Materials at TPT