Dealing with your stuff: A journaling exercise or prompt

It's important to deal with your stuff, so your stuff does not deal with you. 

So, what stuff keeps working on you, coming to mind, chasing you, tapping on your shoulder, pulling you--good or bad? (Journal your response.) 

It's important to acknowledge your stuff, so you can deal with it--so it will not deal with you. If you don't, you cannot move on. There will be no forward motion in your life. The days might go by, but you end up being stuck where you stuff first started to collect and brew. 

What do you need to deal with?

Start this today. 

~ Stacy Duplease

Journalkeeper

Blessings Journaling: Always Give Thanks

Rather than do what is called gratitude journaling, do Counting of Blessings Journaling (or Blessings Journaling). 

The difference between the two is the second recognizes what God has done in one's life, around one's life, and through one's life.

JOURNALING EXERCISE OR PROMPT FOR 2013

Count the Blessings in your life each and every day all year long in 2013. Write at least 3 each day.

Most of the blessings you count, by the way, are memories. Therefore, you might want to write more about them later. This is another way to leave your legacy.

And, just think--if you're having a rough day, you can always look at the blessings you had before and it should re-motivate you and help you find blessings on those challenging days.

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease 2009-2014.) 

MORE MEMORY MINING JOURNALING EXERCISE

Take inventory of your stories. All of them. Make lists of each memory that comes to mind. Do this every day--including new memories and observations you made that day.

As memories come to you, make sure to get them down on the page.

Then, in time, write a paragraph of each and every memory you have.

As you find the time, journal 2 paragraphs of each memory, and then 3 paragraphs of each memory. Finally, of the most important memories, write 1-page or more of each memory.

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online)

MINING YOUR MEMORIES WITH LISTS JOURNALING EXERCISE

LIST TO DETAILS

The best journaling helps you to put your life on the page and leave your legacy. It also helps you to dig deeper and live a fuller, deeper, and more intentional life. This is where you start to live on purpose.

However, how do you do that? What does that look like and why would you want to do that?

It's important to mine your memories. That way, you learn what is really important to you and what is less important. Every memory you have is important, it's a matter of what you find most important today and how it has shaped you to be who you are and what you have done. Get them all down on the page in lists. 

Then, you take items of each list and write more about each. You get to what is most important and what stands out most in your life--today. And you focus on that. You try to get every memory and every detail out of that (Whatever "that" is.)

For instance, take a simple coffee mug in my cabinet. It's one of two favorites. This seems simple enough and not very important. It's just a mug, after all. However, if I look further into it, the mugs are important to me. There is a reason why they are my favorites. So, I need to explore this. How do I do that? First, I do a SOC 

Both read, HISTORIC JAMESTOWN. 

MINING YOUR MEMORIES JOURNALING EXERCISE

Start with writing lists of your memories. Do all sorts of journaling prompts to make as many lists as possible (List suggestions: people, places, things/objects, memories, favorites, least favorites, 10 objects of each room of your house, songs, books, TV shows, games, specific years in your life, decades of your life, etc.).

~ Get it all down in the lists--your memories and anything else that comes to mind. Do a SOC (Stream of Consciousness) writing to get them all down. Write down everything that comes to mind in a list.

~ Then, take three of those items and write more details about each. Do a SOC on each of the three items. Do a word association, mind map, SOC, or anything else that comes to mind about each of the three items. 

~ Take those three items and write a longer journal entry on each. 

~ Write about the six senses of: smell, sight, smell, touch, taste, and perception/intuition on each of the three items. 

~ Ask who, what, where, when, why, and how questions about each of the three items. 

~ Then, a week from the time you finish this, do it again for this list. Choose three items to write more about. 

Then, take two weeks off and do it again.

Then, take a month off and do it again. 

Then, do it in three months.

Then, do it in 6 months.

Then, do it in one year. 

Then, do it in 1.5 years.

Then, do it in two years.

Then, do it in 5 years.
Then, do it in 10 years.
Then do it in 20 years.
Then, do it in 25 years. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease 2012.)