You made it to week #4!! GREAT JOB!!
This week’s journal task is simple. Take a few things you wrote down that you love, enjoy or that make you happy, and write new goals from them. Here are a few examples.
I love cotton and wool clothes, so I would write down this: I will not buy fabrics I dislike, I will stick to the fabrics I love so I am comfortable every day. No more will I suffer in things that make me want to crawl out of my skin.
I truly love sunshiny rooms that are not cluttered! I will continue creating the color palette in my home I love, one small change at a time, never settling on the wrong colors based on a stranger’s choice of style. I strongly dislike clutter, (it makes me feel panic and stress) so I will begin getting rid of things that I don’t need and don’t love. I will also stop accepting things people give to me as something I must be trapped into keeping forever if I don’t like it. I will practice saying “No Thank You.”
I will keep a list of things I enjoy doing, and wish I could do more often, posted in a few places so that when I have a little bit of unexpected or planned time to myself…I won’t stand like a deer in the headlights unable to think of what to do or what would bring joy. I can look at the list and DO them without wasting valuable time thinking about what to do. This enables me to remember the knitting, book or craft I am working on, or to work time into my crazy life to write!
I have a list of things I would really like to try before I am too old or die. (Last year I rode in a racecar and had my first helicopter ride!!) I will pick something from that list, and plan to do it. If I have to save my spare dollars or quarters, or 20 dollars a month to get there, I will! I will proactively begin saving and preparing for one thing on that list! When I have done it, I will begin planning and saving for the next one.
Write out several positive statements of what you will try and do to create a happier life. Practice it!
On to Challenge #4–Another journaling task!
This week, I have an emotional assignment for you.
When we go through dark, difficult times, loss and brokenness, we often wonder why we have gone through it. Some folks feel this is just part of life, or Karma. I personally believe that bad things happen to good people and God CAN make good come from anything, no matter how painful. Sometimes we never know “why” something happened, but we can look for the “what” from it. What did I learn? What did I gain? What came from it that made me better, or what did the experience do for someone else? These are questions few people really take the time to ask themselves, or think about.
What is brokenness? The Free Dictionary here gives a definition, and I will paraphrase it: Shattered, sundered, deserted, violated, weakened, crushed, ruined, actually broken, incomplete, out of order, and not functioning.
This sounds hopeless, grief stricken and so alone! Have you ever felt this way? I have, and I know how utterly terrifying it can be. I have looked at times in my life that have left me heartbroken, feeling abandoned, let down, rejected, frightened, etc, and have really looked for some answers. I will list just a few times I have found some answers as to what God did for me and how He made good come from brokenness.
I felt rejected by someone, and God showed me later how BAD for me they would have been. Soul crushingly bad. He saved me from more suffocating heartbreak than I can even imagine.
I felt abandoned and thrown away by people I loved and trusted with all my heart, only for God to show me how much better off I was with them out of my life. He actually released me from an abusive situation I hadn’t understood until I had escaped. Many good people were brought into my life and filled some of those gaping holes by loving me unconditionally.
I faced multiple rounds of cancer that threatened my life, that led us to knowledge that saved my children from serious future health issues! We have also been able to help others, time and time again, from our experiences, with their own health issues.
Enduring a terrible year with a series of losses and hardship, to watch a loved one grow so richly through the trials that I am nearly overwhelmed with JOY each time I see the changes!
Personal loss can later turn into ministries, positive changes, growth and joy! When you look back and see this, it really changes your perspective. Dark times, bad choices, and terrible losses, really can help shape us and bring healthy future promise into our lives! It can make us tougher, smarter, give us stronger faith, and teach us to extend grace and love.
This week, I want you to write out at least THREE times in your life that you went through terrible or tragic experiences, and list some good that came from it.
THREE.
Why three? I want you to see it is not a fluke, that it is real, and profound, and positive. No, I am not saying tragic loss is positive, but that God can bring about good even from terrible circumstances. I am excited about this! I hope you are too! It makes me want to praise God for those blessings!
Those tough times are part of who you are, and it will be enriching to “own” the knowledge that good came from it. When you see that good, you feel more positive about those hardships. You will see the trail of growth, the victories as well as the tears and trials. It changes you, it makes you stronger! It helps you see what you have inside you that you can share with another soul still struggling with what you conquered.
If you are willing, write down a few ways you might be able to help others through the dark places you have been,or advice you would give if you are asked. You WILL be asked eventually, I assure you. I have had so many folks come to me, and ask me questions, talk with me, that I have a countless string of times I was able to help others. You will too. This is a gift to others, and only you can give your own unique insight.
This is part of your purpose in life. To help others, all while you are chasing your own dreams and blazing your own trail.
Embrace it!
