#229 Finding Strength in Life's Best and Worst Days

About this episode

Sheridan Ripley discusses finding strength in life's best and worst days through personal experiences and lessons from a church talk.

In this episode, I share a church lesson I gave based on Emily Belle Freeman’s talk “Best Days and Worst Days,” which teaches that mortality includes both best and worst days as a place for growth as we walk with Christ. I relate this to my son Devon’s traumatic birth with rapid swings between fear and relief, and to a difficult year marked by postpartum depression. I share two tools for handling life’s extremes: the “75% Okay or Better” perspective (most of life is neutral/okay, with small portions that are awful or amazing), and a “stay anchored” tool—stay calm, stay present (“eyes on Jesus”), and stay flexible—using Peter’s experiences as examples. I also describe practicing this when Bryson’s mission return date changed, choosing calm, presence, and flexibility to support him. Link to President Freeman's talk - https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2026/04/42freeman?lang=eng

People in this episode

Host: Sheridan Ripley

Topics covered

• strength
• mortality
• growth
• postpartum depression
• faith
• resilience

Keywords

• strength
• best days
• worst days
• postpartum depression
• faith
• resilience
• tools for handling life

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