Pause. Connect. Reset.

Life can be busy for kids, their friends and their families. Between sports, hanging out with friends and household chores it’s easy for stresses to be ignored!

But kids can have stresses that adults aren’t aware of like being asked by friends to do things they think are risky and that have been warned against by their parents. Sometimes kids get pressured to go places they aren’t supposed to or try things like smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol. How do you handle times like this?

Connect with your spirituality

Take the time to pause – that means to step back from what is going on. Really think about what you want to do instead of what others may want. Stepping back can take as little as a few minutes, but you might decide to step back for longer. You don’t have to explain. Just take time out for yourself and use it to think.

There are also other ways to pause, like taking a warm bath, taking a walk, listening to music, breathing deeply or finding a quiet place by yourself. All of these are good ways to pause your life for a moment and give yourself time to think.

Another useful hack is to connect. You can connect with someone in your family or a helping person like a teacher or social worker. Or you can find another person in your life to connect with such as a friend you trust or a coach who listens to you.

Connecting can also mean finding good links online with good information in the area of your concern.

Reset can mean different things to each person. It can mean to think about what you want and like or to get new information or someone else’s thoughts. It can also mean to reset what you are going to do. Maybe you will decide not to go where your family has told you to stay away from or not to do something risky that you are not comfortable with.