The goal of this blog is to help you get started with journaling.
The blog presents excerpts from the journal, followed by a few hints on motivating yourself to put pencil to paper.
An excerpt from the journal:
If you are grieving, you may need help getting on with life. It may be difficult for you to keep up your relationships, to get around, or just to talk to people. Most difficult of all, you may need help in accepting and dealing with your feelings.
This journal, “Small Steps towards Transforming Grief,” provides guided steps that call upon your three basic human talents — feeling, thinking, and acting; or, if you like, your heart, your head, and your hands.
The questions prompt you to accept your emotions, deal with your new reality, and care for yourself. You can work through the numbness, despair, and disorganization of grief. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to use this journal.
Suggestions on how to respond to prompts from the journal:
Prompt – My ten-day goal is:
When overwhelmed with emotions of grief, how can you imagine doing something as specific and directive as setting a ten-day goal? Not easy. Here are suggestions.
Calm yourself and seek intuitive or spiritual direction.
- Seek a ray of hope.
Call upon a higher power, “I am here for a purpose. Help me fulfill it.”
Calm yourself and seek intuitive or spiritual direction.
- Honor your own existence by telling yourself what to do.
“(Enter your name here) you better start taking care of yourself.”
Now make a list of things to do. Take small steps.
This prompt really helped me when I was drinking too much. I said, ”Burke, you better start taking care of yourself.” After that, I became motivated to cut back on my bad behavior and upgrade my good behavior.
Set the smallest of goals, anything to help
- Think of a problem you need to solve. These three questions will help
Where am I now?
Where do I want to go?
How do I get there?
Now set a specific goal. Focus on small tasks to get started in accomplishing it.
- Find somebody else who needs help and help them.
Another prompt – “Today, I will nurture myself by taking these actions:”
This prompt should be easy, but if you are down, the slightest effort may seem like too much. So, set the smallest of goals, anything to help you take care of yourself. Believe.
- I will set a goal to take care of myself while solving stressful problems.
I will stay fed and watered. I will move about to keep my blood flowing.
- I will seek help. I will let others know I need help.
Friends and family
Professional counselors
Grief communities – online or in-person
Others who have similar grief experiences
- I will volunteer at an appropriate organization or help a friend in need.
Helping others will not only help them, it will help me reclaim a sense of self-worth.