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KEEPING A JOURNAL
How is it that you would define your life these days? Is it exciting, or painful or boring or may be just meaningless. No matter how is it that you see your life, but the fact remains that good or bad, 'this' is the life you have and there is no escaping it. Accept this and it would easier for you to come to terms with the undesirable things in your life.
But acceptance doesn't fall upon us just like that, we have to cultivate it. It is only when we have acquired the maturity to know that this is our life and it can not be otherwise, that we get the strength to make whatever changes we can think of in order to make our lives better.
Just cursing your life wouldn't make the negative disappear. It would still be there and chances are that your neglecting your life would make it even worse than it already is. It is like ignoring some pain in your body, if you do not acknowledge the pain, you would not try to do something about it and nine times out of ten, the pain wont just disappear, it would only reach an excruciating degree. And then it may already be too late to do anything about it.
Life is a very beautiful gift and you must remember that good and bad events both make up our lives. So it is not the good or the bad circumstances that make us a winner or a loser but it is the way we deal with them that determines who is a success amongst us and who a total failure.
Normally days would pass by us so fast that before we know it, our 24 hours have come to an end and a new day is staring us in the face. You may not know how to slow things down, but it is possible to take some time out to record the events of each day and to analyze them. An honest analysis of each day would help us see what went wrong and why and what needs more attention. It also teaches us to be grateful for everything that went well and for simple beautiful things in our life, which we may not notice otherwise.
So how is it that you can record each day? Obviously you cannot carry a camcorder all day long. But there is simple and more economical alternative: keep a journal. Have a personal diary in which you must write down something about your day. The best time to do that is naturally before hitting the bed. There are a few things to remember in order to get the most out of having a personal journal.
Write everything down:
Don't hold yourself back when writing. It is good to put down just about everything that happened or you gave a thought to. Don't wait for an important event to take place, remember every day is important because it will never come back. So it needs to be paid attention to. There is no contest going on. No one cares how skillful you are. If something really significant took place, and you feel it needs more mention than others, do write each and every detail of it. What happened, how you felt, what you think you should have done and didn't do. Just keep writing.
Remember no one cares about your writing skills. Because you won't be showing your personal stuff to anyone in the first place. And please don't worry about someone else reading it, because all these little worries would keep you from writing candidly and honestly and chances are you would miss out on important details.
Do not forget to put down some pleasant thoughts:
It is very important that even if you have had an awful day, you must, without fail, mention something pleasant that happened that day. I know it is very difficult to even think positive when all your life seems to be a mess, but it would do you good to let your mind move from the negative track even if it is just for a few minutes.
Be grateful for simple small things in your life. The kind passenger who let you have his seat, or the adorable child who chatted your ears off in the bus. Do remember to mention them in your journal. It will not only relax you for sometime but in the long run, you would find yourself appreciating these small gestures that brought a smile on your face.
Think one good thing about that rude person:
When you are writing down about that rude person who you think has ruined your day, whether it is your boss or your boyfriend, it is okay to call him anything you want. Do mention how you felt, what you should have said and what is it that you want to do about it. Yes, it is ok to vent your feelings about him.
But in the end, force your self to mention just one good thing about this person even if it is seems negligible. It is only natural that you wouldn't want to think anything nice about him, but make yourself do it. It would help you get control over your negative emotions and put things in the right perspective. You are likely to over react when you are hurt and upset, so try to gain some control over your emotions before you decide to do something about him or his behavior.
Make a list of next-day goals:
We all have plans for our lives. Before going to bed each day, make a list of all those things that you would want to achieve the very next day. These very short-term goals would help you achieve more than you ever can without a list.
For example, you have to make a call which you have been postponing for some time now, make sure you put it down on your list of things to do. How long will it take, a few minutes? So don't delay it any more and just do it. So whatever it is you want to do, no matter how small, jot it down and do as many as you can the next day. It will put your mind at ease and give you a sense of achievement.
In the end, write down a prayer:
It is another very important part of a personal journal if you really want to achieve something out of it. Put down a heart felt prayer. We all want things from God, just write them down. This will help you know just what it is that's really important to you and whether you believe it or not some of your prayers even get answered. Remember "A single grateful thought raised to heavens is the most perfect prayer".
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