SO SS TN OR VA OR GI
Karen Holford
Is
Helping Your Students to  ( .
ince the beginning of the COVID-19 pan-
demic, there has been an increase in the
number of children and adults experiencing
anxiety and other negative/draining emo-
tions. More students of all ages are strug-
gling to balance their emotions, and to develop resil-
ience for the ups and downs of everyday life. When
children come to school, overwhelmed by feelings that
they lack the skills to manage well, it is very difficult
for their brains to be ready and open to new learning.
Flourish! is a tool based on the research of psychol-
ogist Barbara Fredrickson,* who chose to study the
positive and uplifting experiences that help people to
flourish, rather than the negative and draining experi-
ences that can cause distress and illness. Fredrickson
identified the 10 most common negative/draining
emotions: anger, fear, stress, shame, guilt, embarrass-
ment, frustration, sadness, contempt, and disgust. She
also identified the 10 most common positive/uplifting
emotions: gratitude, wonder, inspiration, interest (hav-
ing an engaging hobby), hopefulness, a positive sense
of purpose in life, peacefulness, laughter, joy, and
kindness.
Fredrickson and her team discovered the impor-
tance of learning how to balance one’s emotions. As
human beings live in a broken and hurting world, it is
perfectly normal for them to experience some of the
draining emotions. However, people can learn how to
balance their draining emotions with positive emo-
tions, to prevent them from becoming overwhelmed
by distress. The research indicates that people prob-
ably need to have at least three times as many positive
emotions as negative ones to remain balanced, and an
even higher ratio to flourish.
Although Fredrickson’s findings are recent, the
apostle Paul used similar ideas to help him “flourish”
when he was in prison and awaiting execution. In the
fourth chapter of Philippians, Paul listed some of the
things that were helping him to be resilient in the face
of a distressing and frightening situation. He chose to
praise God because God is always praiseworthy no
matter what is happening in our lives. He chose to be
kind and gentle to others, and whenever we are Kind,
we are blessed in positive ways, too, because this
stimulates the secretion of feel-good and healthy oxy-
tocin in the human brain. He gave all his worries to
God in prayer. He chose to do things that filled him
with peace such as contemplating nature and God’s
creation. He focused on positive and beautiful
thoughts and shared that he had learned how to be
content, whatever the situation.
For several years, while practicing Frederickson’s
ideas, I have discovered that they help me to be
calmer, happier, and less stressed. This inspired me
to create Flourish! as a simple tool to help people of
all ages, including children, learn how to balance their
emotions. I concluded that it would be helpful to cre-
ate a set of posters focusing on the positive emotions
and describing simple ways to experience each of
them. Each poster contains a Bible verse, a short
statement about why this emotion is important, and
10 ways to experience the positive emotion. There is
also a colorful tree poster on which younger children
can stick a green leaf every time that they choose to
do one of the flourishing ideas or engage in related
activities. A full set of these downloadable posters can
be found at http://www.ted.adventist.org/family/
flourish.
http://www.journalofadventisteducation.org
The Journal of Adventist Education Vol. 85, No. 1, 2023 33