Hope and Cope: A Guide for Excelling in Tough Times

By Ava C Tighe

Hope and Cope: A Guide for Excelling in Tough Times is a book for young adults experiencing difficult situations such as homelessness and divorce. Life can be hard for kids. I would know, because I am one. Using my book, you can learn skills and habits to help pull yourself up by your bootstraps and carry on when you feel like curling u

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ava Tighe
• Release date: May 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781792390883

Book preview

Self Concept:

Self awareness- To build yourself up to be a stronger person you have to have a grasp of who you are. This means you need to understand your thoughts, emotions, values, limitations, and capabilities. You can build a concept of yourself through taking a look at yourself. Noticing how you think about yourself and others, how you feel in reaction to different events throughout your days, how you prefer to spend your time, and what is most necessary to your lifestyle is important.

Learn yourself- Ask yourself these questions:

What do I enjoy the most?

What do I do the best?

What do I like most about myself?

What do I think is best for my growth as a person?

What do I want to change most about myself? Can I realistically change that?

Tip: Understand that your circumstance does not define who you are as a person! Life is hard and unpredictable, but just because you are going through a rough patch in time does not mean you are a worse or less important person than you would be if you were not. Remember: this is a temporary state, and it is not who you are.

Know your emotions- A big part of who you are is your emotions. As you should know well by now, everyone has emotions, but all people feel and deal with emotions differently. How you are feeling happiness may not be how your closest friend is feeling happiness, and that is a reason why you need to know how you experience your emotions. One way to define how strongly you feel your emotions is to rate how much you feel them.

Understand when you are stressed- Getting to know yourself also involves knowing what makes you stressed. First of all, you need to identify what stress is to you. Has there ever been a time where you felt a very strong, uncomfortable emotion that messed up your day? Maybe it was caused by a negative event in your day? Some signs of stress include:

-difficulty sleeping

-changes in how/when you eat

-issues concentrating

-crying/yelling more often

-changes in your mood

-feeling sluggish or restless

-feeling alone/misunderstood

If you match some or all of these, then you might be going through a stressful patch. It may not be a good time for you, but understand that it is