Dear Self, Grow Up Already!: BLUEprint Life, #1

By Renee Lowry

Forget the old ideas about how to best deal with your emotions and protect your mental health... There is a better way!

This book is for anyone who has:
anxieties that repeat. 
struggled with mental health. 
negative thoughts that play on a spiraling loop.
wanted to be in complete control of their thoughts and emotions.
desired to not only overcome your obstacles, but learn how to use them to build the life you have always wanted.

Renee Lowry, International Best Selling Author and Coach, highlights the principles of The BLUEprint Method™ in this book so you can build the life you want, not only live the life you have. She walks you through each step so that you can master these techniques for yourself and forever be designing and living the life you most desire. She will take you from a place of confusion and emotional distress to a place of clarity using your own personal guidance system. Using The BLUEprint Method™, you will learn the skills to take control and never feel at the mercy of emotions again. 

You already have the roadmap to building your perfect life, you just need to learn to read it. Find out how inside.

This book, from best selling author Renee Lowry, unlocks the secrets to a deeper understanding of yourself and the true purpose of how you are to use your emotions to help build your life intentionally. The author walks you through six easy to follow steps that help you learn to accept yourself as you are, learn how your emotions are meant to help you, and to get all the things that you want from life by designing and planning it that way. The book shows you a unique perspective on how to think about dealing with life, people, and how to think about mental health and emotions. The six steps are The BLUEprint Method™, (Building Life Using Emotions). Read it to find the secrets to escaping your funk. Read it to better understand yourself. Read it to know how to deal with toxic or troublesome situations. The BLUEprint Method™ is the tool that Renee Lowry uses in her coaching and writing to help others build and live life authentically and emotionally well. 

"In Grow Up Already! Lowry challenges the common terms 'normal' and 'depressed' in order to challenge the reader to do the reflective work necessary to use The BLUEprint Method. She implies no one else can be you and you can be no one else – so measure yourself against yourself - and no other. Open yourself up to reading this book and doing the exercises within it; growth is around the corner! " -Amy L Beaulieu, LICSW, 3 Shoes, Inc.

"Renee is fantastic. She is a gift from heaven using the tools from The BLUEprint Method." - Renata T., GA

"This encourages you to become a conscientious participant in your life, to make well-thought out, healthy choices."- Amy L., NY

"The BLUEprint Method taught me that my happiness really is within my control, and it has become a guide in my daily interactions with other people." A. Miller, TX

• Language: English
• Publisher: Renee Lowry
• Release date: Dec 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781735829029

Book preview

Dear Self, Grow Up Already!

A book to help you design and build the best version of yourself, because you are worth it!

Renee Lowry

BLUEprint Publishing

Copyright © 2020 by Renee Lowry

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is dedicated to:

My Mema, who thankfully taught me to question normal.

To Renata, who encouraged and inspired me to pursue my gifts and to own my greatness.

And

To my family, who provide endless learning opportunities that help me to…

Grow Up Already!

Contents

Foreword

Growing Up Stronger

1. Escaping A Funk

2. Defining Normal

3. The Method

All Six Steps

Install Your Warning Signs

4. Recognizing a Funk

Determine Your Building Code

5. The Emotional Toolbox

6. Learning from Emotions

Assess and Appraise

7. The Nuts and Bolts

Designing The BLUEprint

8. Building Life Using Emotions

Anticipate The Contingency Plan

9. The Game of Life

Appreciate Your Construction

10. The Beginning

Celebrating Through Step 1

Celebrating Through Step 2

Celebrating Through Step 3

Celebrating Through Step 4

Celebrating Through Step 5

Celebrating Through Step 6

About the Author

Foreword

As you navigate life, it is inevitable that you will have periods of time where you feel depressed.

Feeling depressed means different things to different people.

---

Sometimes feeling depressed can be a very dark place. I have been there myself.

---

Most of my life has been spent struggling through depression and other mental health challenges. Through focused and persistent work, I am proud to say that I am now in a place where I am doing really well.

---

Through my work as a mental health speaker, author and writer, I want the world to be well. The mission of my company is to support people in receiving the gift of emotional wellness.

---

Problems and challenges are a part of life. In fact, I often hear people say that pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. In order to move past suffering or avoid it, it is important that you have tools that work for you.

---

If you search Google using the terms Coping skills or Mental wellness tips, you will find a lifetime of solutions to whatever you struggle with. As a person who has struggled for most of his life in this area, I think it is important to remember that there are many different ways to get yourself to a better place. What works for you may not work for me and vice versa.

---

The book that you are about to read will introduce you to a radically different way of looking at being in a funk and how to get out of it.

---

I have to be honest with you about something. When I first read this book, I read it through skeptical eyes because I'm used to a traditional format for solving problems, particularly when it comes to mental health related problems and personal development issues.

---

I also knew that there was an opportunity for me to learn something if I was willing to be open to it. As you read it, I hope you stay open as well.

---

To my surprise, I stumbled on some great ideas that I began to apply immediately. Some of them put me in a better place emotionally quite fast.

---

On a personal note, I have had the honor of being friends with Renee and her husband, Chris, for a number of years. And as I've gotten to know Renee, I've gotten to really understand a very special person who has a deep commitment to helping people, especially helping people through problems they are struggling with.

---

This is a part of who she is, whether this book existed or not. One of the best parts of reading this book was smiling when I thought of Renee, knowing that she practices what she preaches.

---

I invite you to embrace the journey that you are about to undertake. It is not always going to be pleasant, but if you stick with it, there is a gift on the other side for you.

---

Without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to my friend, author, and healer, Renee Lowry.

Mike Veny

Mental Health Speaker

and Best Selling Author

Growing Up Stronger

How to get the MAXIMUM benefit from this book…

---

Grow Up Already is designed to assist you on your journey of self-discovery. Below is an explanation of how you should use the Self-Exploration and Break-Out Thoughts tools in this book. Together, they will guide on an adventure of learning as you work to grow up and become the person you have always wanted to be.

---

Self-Exploration:

---

In these workbook sections, you will be guided to begin exploring and learning more about yourself. This will help show how you react, feel, and best process information. You will learn to understand the difference between your default responses and the responses that would be most beneficial to you and how to choose for yourself which to use. Answer these questions honestly and with integrity. Facing uncomfortable feelings and being truthful will enable you to explore and appreciate all of the things that make you tick!

---

Break-Out Thoughts:

In these sections, you will reflect on your own life and use these questions to flow from one idea to the next. These questions are designed to teach you methods to break out of emotional traps and change unhealthy patterns of thinking. Try to remember these Break-Out Thoughts when you face similar situations in your life. These will help to free you from much of life’s traps and emotional baggage that weighs us down. These will become patterns for a new inner dialog or self-talk.

---

Do not be afraid to boldly be, your unique self. We get one life so excitedly live yours, and no one else gets to have an opinion that matters when using these tools.

1

Escaping A Funk

Definition of FUNK- An incredibly awesome style of music that is a mixture of soul, jazz, and R&B. Music made famous by James Brown, Sly & The Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, and many more!

Wait… wrong definition of Funk for this story.

Other definition of FUNK - a state of depression, a low, a bad mood, cloud of confusion (maybe listen to funk music while escaping your funk? Couldn't hurt!)

Who, at one time or another has not been caught in the grasp of a horrible funk? A funk often comes unannounced, sneaks up on us at the worst possible moments, and tries to suffocate us in the depths of our own emotions and thoughts… nothing feels safe when you are in its midst. Some of our funks last only hours while still others can drag on for weeks or months.

There is not an adult alive that has never had to overcome a funk. Even toddlers experience funks and now that I think about it, I am pretty sure they often handle them far healthier than many of us adults. The advice people give us is phrases like snap out of it, think positive thoughts, and do something for yourself.

The solutions are as numerous as the sand but none of them work long term, none of them help you escape the funk for good, and none help you to shape and build happiness into your life! Most solutions are band-aids or just ignore that the funk is even there. There is a better way…

This book will give you easy to follow steps to pull yourself out from the depths of any emotional whirlwind. Grow Up Already is designed to guide you through the despair and turmoil of the funk thoughtfully and carefully. This book is for people who struggle to process the emotions of depression and want to not only escape it but also come out on top in life!

You will begin to use your funks and all of your emotions to create BLUEprints for a life completely of your design. At last, you will know how to use the tools you already have to build that happy life you have always dreamed of living and Grow Up Already!

I have worked to hone this practice in my own life. I have used this process to help many others to escape the grips of their funk. Throughout my life, I have helped numerous friends, family members, and coaching clients to use their Emotional Toolbox to create the BLUEprints that build life intentionally.

Being a daughter, wife, mother of two teen girls and a friend comes with many opportunities to learn, grow, and teach emotional health. Every day for me is another lesson in emotions.

After completing this step by step process, you will have all the tools you need to stop repeating the funks that continually cycle in your life. You will be able to free yourself from the drags of emotional whirlwinds, and you will discover deep truths about yourself as you learn to use every funk to your advantage.

Learning to make this process second nature in your life, helps you not only escape a funk but to avoid future funks and grow up already. You will build your life completely and unapologetically designed by you. I can promise you that if you follow this process thoughtfully and honestly, you will not just escape this funk, you will learn how to avoid the next one from surfacing for those same reasons.

You will also have the tools to use every funk you face and begin creating and living a life intentionally designed by you. Living the exact life, you always wanted but did not know was possible! I am confident that once you have completed this process you will learn to love and cherish your funks!

Do not waste another funk. Do not experience one more day lost in an abyss of unchecked emotions. Stop being a victim of your moods, helpless to change your circumstances. Never again push down your emotions and attempt to carry on like they are not bothering you. You deserve better than this.

Instead, decide today to live honestly and intentionally. Live a life that is built by your design and never again allow yourself to be controlled by your funks. Take the control back and Grow Up Already… start now!

One thing you will notice in my writing is that I prefer to use the term a funk instead of the word depression to describe my feelings. The truth of the matter is that a funk is a form of depression. Instead of depression being something bad that happens to you, this book will show you how to use it to your advantage. You will see depression as a valuable tool to build an amazing life. As you get used to using this process your emotional turmoil from depression will get less intense.

As you work through the steps in this book and use them for every stage of depression that you encounter, you will learn to live by them permanently or grow up already. These steps can help your bouts with depression become shorter, lighter, and less frequent. This is the win! This is the end you plan for!

Do not expect depression to never again be part of your life, it is natural and unavoidable. However, you will learn that you can transform depression into something completely different. In fact, you will begin to see that our emotions and depression are not something we should fear, they are something we should anticipate and use to help us on our journey through life.

I divided my depression into four levels and described them below. Please note, I am not a medical professional and do not claim to be. These are the levels that I use personally.

Assigning depression levels has helped many people that I have worked with to drastically reduce uncomfortable emotions and I am confident that it will help you too.

I envision this as if I were driving down the depression highway. The Emotional Discomfort Gauge™ or EDG, tells me how fast I am racing. It is my indicator of what response is required.

Below is my own personal EDG. As often as possible, I try to use The BLUEprint Method™ to escape my emotional discomfort before it accelerates past the area of 0-60. When the gauge goes over 60 and my responses are going to be more challenging to control or escape from quickly.

EDG Emotional Discomfort Gauge

My emotional levels are defined like this: (Your levels may be different than mine, but the important thing is that you identify them and define their limits.)

Bad mood- slight mood change that is unfavorable and usually fleeting.

Funk- serious mood change that seems devastating and can last from hours to months but is always temporary.

Completely Beaten- Laden with heavy burdens that seem insurmountable and too difficult to bear yet I maintain the understanding that this will pass even if I cannot