We spend a couple of hours together, as a family, most evenings; sitting together in the little family room in the cabin, we share time and conversation. We color in coloring books with crayons and colored pencils and we each write in our journals while listening to select, special music and the spoken word. We read together and pray together. It’s part of our family routine. Even without a ‘family,’ though, such activities are uplifting, calming and encouraging. If you haven’t already begun a personal journal, I strongly encourage you to begin. There are countless benefits associated with journaling. If you’re struggle to know where to start (as I’ve heard said many times, “I don’t know what to write”), here are a few ideas, to get the ball rolling: Identify one weakness in yourself, then write about how that weakness might be viewed as a strength. Identify the worst time in your life and write about how you felt when you were there. Write about how it has affected you, going forward. Write about the growth you’ve experienced because of that challenge. Write about the most wonderful experience in your life and how you have been affected because of it. If you look back into your experiences, you may find you remember a time when you felt strongly about something, but later changed your mind. (This happens more than we might think which is why I try to remind my loved ones to make decisions based on principles, not feelings. Feelings often change and sometimes lie, but principles do not). Write about a time your feelings changed. Maybe it was a surprise to you when you woke up in the morning feeling better. Or, maybe you felt change slowly growing like plant sprouting from a seed of thought. Either way, remembering a time when feelings changed is important for times in the future when our feelings are negative. Remembering changed feelings can inspire hope during difficult times. Expecting change inspires anticipation. Try writing about your utopia. This can be a lot of fun, actually. We sometimes leave the imaginary to the children, but peaceful, safe places are healthy to imagine. Write everything that would make your perfect, safe place. Afterward, use your writing to help you visualize that place. This type of self-guided imagery can be very relaxing. Of course, recording and exploring things for which you are grateful is always a great journaling idea. Keeping a gratitude journal can help lift your spirits during the recording of your gratitude. Reading past entries can pick you up when you’re feeling down, too. These are but a few of innumerable journaling prompts. Wherever you begin, journaling is great exercise. Be well.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life Cycles

Like the cycles of freedom and bondage experienced ages before Polybius wrote his theories of benign and malignant governments, we continue to cycle today, even thousands of years later. Generations, societies, governments and the governed cycle. Even the earth cycles as it spins through day and night, revolving through seasons and years over millennia and eons of time. Cycles are a theme of living things; growth and decline. We struggle for growth and cycle through periods of accomplishment and strength then ease and weakness. Time spent at ease leads to weakness; a very natural part of the living cycle. This is true for the body, both physical and metaphysical. Among my close friends, I would say this is true for both the body and the spirit. The phenomenon manifests in societies of all sizes, from that of the United States to those the size of the average American family. Around and around we go from weak to strong to weak; from poor to rich to poor. Generation after generation; hum...
Read more

Handprint on My Heart

A treasured friend told me today that I’ve left my handprint upon her heart (she quoted a line from a song she heard on the way to SWEAT with me, and said it spoke to her of me). Of course, I felt a welling of emotion. She’s left her handprint upon mine, too. That’s what we do in this life, isn’t it (if we do it right)? We leave our marks upon each other, upon the rising generation, upon the land, upon whatever it may be that will remember us when we’re gone… As I write, I’m sitting in the room with my mother-in-law, as her breathing grows increasingly shallow by the hour and her feeble heart grows tired of beating. Her body is aged and failing. She’s lived a long and wonderful life. Not only did she bring six boys and a daughter into this world, but she raised them in the hills, on a farm, in a little two-room cabin, with no modern utilities. She raised happy children and happy grandchildren who were, and ever will be honored to call her mother. She did it right. This fine lady has le...
Read more

Breathe Well

It’s quiet here this afternoon. Some of us are gone out for the day, some are napping and some are silently socializing on the internet. My home is very still in this moment. Stillness is good. All of us need to learn to be still…and breathe. Some of us need to learn how to move and breathe, too. That’s usually a little bit trickier, which is why part of training and learning to move effectively includes training and learning to breathe properly. Let’s talk about breathing. In a nutshell: The diaphragm contracts and expands, causing the chest cavity to increase and decrease in size, which in turn allows for lung expansion and compression. There’s a few other muscles involved, but that’s the basics of breathing, right? Most of us generally take it for granted. (If you are chronically out of breath, and you haven’t already done so, see your doctor.) At the beginning of an exercise program, breathing is probably the most difficult thing to learn and to control. A little bit of exertion, ...
Read more