Don't Feed The Bear

Some patterns you learned so long ago they feel like who you are. The reaction you reach for before you decide. The silence, the overthinking, the gripping, the disappearing.

Don't Feed the Bear names twenty-six of them.

Thirteen animals drain you. The Bear that rises to every trigger. The Snake that says one thing and does another. The Bull that charges at everything. The Rat that hides from what it should face. The Chameleon that changes color to keep the room comfortable. The Rabbit that spirals. The Octopus that grips everything at once.

Thirteen replace them. The Elephant that stands in calm strength. The Owl that sees the pattern anyway. The Lion that leads without noise. The Turtle that keeps showing up. The Eagle that stops asking for approval. The Dolphin that stays clear. The Crane that lets go.

Every chapter walks the same honest steps. AWARE, to see the pattern for what it is. ACCOUNTABLE, to own your part in it. ACTION, the 3 A's in motion: see it, feel it, change it. Then the antidote, a King James verse, and one line to carry with you.

Nothing here takes more than a few minutes to read, and that is deliberate. This is a book you can pick up on a hard morning, read one page, and use before lunch.

Yolanda M. Epps writes from the 26th floor of a Bronx high-rise, where she learned to stop looking down at what discouraged her and start looking out toward what was possible. She is a certified life coach and transformational trainer, and the author of Loving Me: A Journey of Transformation, Empowerment & Self-Love.

Better choices start with knowing your options. And you always, always have a choice.