I Shouldn't Feel This Way: Name What’s Hard, Tame Your Guilt, and Transform Self-Sabotage into Brave Action

by Dr. Alison Cook

Dr. Alison Cook uncovers the conflicting thoughts and emotions that keep us stuck and teaches us how to name, tame, and transform them into clear solutions that help us move forward in confidence.

We all want to live godly lives and navigate through the issues that arise with confidence, but so often we find ourselves wrestling with conflicting thoughts and feelings. I want to be a good daughter, but I can't trust my parent. I should pray more, but I'm frustrated with God. Instead of naming these thoughts and working through them, we try to force ourselves to act based on what we've been told. But this inevitably ends with us feeling stuck, trapped between the people we think we should be and the way we really feel.

What if this sidelining of our own thoughts and feelings is what's keeping us stuck? Building on psychological and spiritual insight, Dr. Alison Cook guides us through a practical strategy for acknowledging the tension and seeing the fuller truth. She shows us how to . . .

• uncover the mixed emotions that keep us confused;
• distinguish fact from fiction in our relationships;
• make decisions that account for the entirety of a situation; and
• start getting honest with ourselves, God, and other people.

As we learn to take a step back from our mixed emotions and see the fuller picture of the challenges we face, we stop feeling paralyzed and start seeing our way through the haze, moving forward with clarity and confidence.