Cards for Good Emotional Health

by Mike R

I was cleaning out our game cabinet recently and came across an incomplete set of Angry Birds cards. My children had outgrown the game years ago, and as it was incomplete, I struggled to give it away. But the bright colors and plastic pieces inspired me.

A few days later, I was thinking about the complexities involved in relationships, communication and dealing with emotions. From the work we do encouraging emotional health, I was drawn to the idea of repurposing these cards as a prototype for a tool to help people process their thoughts and feelings.

So, I sat at the bar in our kitchen early one morning and began writing on those Angry Birds cards. One color became cards for ANGER, another for SADNESS, and another for WORRIED. But there were more colors in the deck, so purple became HEALTHY ACTIVITIES and another color became INSPIRATION cards. On the back I wrote ideas - things that could help inspire change and encourage joyfulness.

But what about those little plastic birds? Well, I wrote "I Love You" on the red one. I wrote "I'm Hurting" on the big one, and I wrote "I'm Sorry" on the yellow one. These seem to be the three things I see people struggling to say - to communicate when they are hurting or working to repair a relationship. Those birds became totems and a stand-in to serve as basic communication when a face-to-face conversation isn't emotionally possible in that moment.

And so was born the prototype for the Cheerful Gear Cards for Good Emotional Health.

You can't buy these anywhere yet in the physical world, but they are FREE for use here in the digital world and available on our site for download. They look great on the PC, but the are really easy to use on your phone.

We grouped our cards into a few categories as follows:

• Everyday behaviors that are proven to contribute to positive health
• On-demand activities that are good for us, and that can help shift our mood
• Emotion cards for anger, anxiety, sadness and joy to help us think through our current state
• Relationship cards to help us communicate with a loved-one when we, or they, are feeling angry, sad, anxious or joyful - a virtual version of the bird totems if you will
• And finally, inspiration cards to reference when we need an extra boost

Sometimes a simple reminder and words of encouragement are all that is needed to help us find our cheerful gear.

We encourage you to review and use our free self-help emotional health flashcards to boost your spirit and encourage your very best habits and behaviors.

Cheerful Gear Cards for Emotional Health (Click Here)

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