A Journal Prompt for Boundaries

Where I deposit my energy, is my responsibility. Journal Prompt: I put too much energy toward...

A Journal Prompt for Stress

Stress is inevitable when what you ask yourself to do, outruns your resources. Journal Prompt: I run out of resources when...

Anxiety, 11

Limits. Manage anxiety by respecting your limits. Anxiety can happen when an entity/a person is asking something that is beyond a natural, human limit. Is our goal really to prove that we do not have limits? Then, instead of feeling a sense of achievement, we feel exhausted, we have yet again raised the bar, and conditioned people to our lack of limits. Limits are good. Limits keep us from resentment. Limits help us manage anxiety. Journal Prompt: If I do not respect my limits...

Anxiety, 10

Fight. Manage anxiety by wrestling with acceptance. You can fight with your anxiety, distracting you from the life you are hoping to be present for. Or you can make room for anxiety, accepting that it might be one part of you. Movement toward acceptance releases the pressure of control and allows you to adjust your attention to what matters to you. Journal Prompt: When I fight with anxiety, I miss...

Anxiety, 9

Tolerance Manage anxiety by increasing your tolerance for what is uncomfortable. When you cannot tolerate disappointing other people, you participate in a lot you are not interested in and blow past your boundaries. Thus stress and anxiety. Manage anxiety by increasing your capacity to tolerate what is uncomfortable without adjusting your boundaries. Build the muscle of: Tolerating the disappointment of others Tolerating the feeling of false guilt Tolerating other people's anxiety Journal Prompt: What do I need to tolerate to better manage my anxiety?

Feeling Your Way Through Depression, 9

Lonely. Blocked behind a brick wall, depression can blind you. It can feel like you are not participating in life. Like you are looking through an omitted brick and seeing life happen. Observing, not participating. Isolated. Withdrawn. Journal Prompts: The loneliness of depression is...

Feeling Your Way Through Depression, 8

Shame. In the corner, clammy, recoiled, and done trying, depression feels like there is something broken inside that needs to be hidden. Shame is exhausting. Shame is always in fear of exposure. Shame is pressure. Shame keeps you trapped. Journal Prompts: I feel shame…

Feeling Your Way Through Depression, 7

Anxious. Depression can feel like the aftermath of a lost fight of climbing anxiety. Dread throbbing its way through your veins, only the shell of your stomach left, clenched. Journal Prompts: The anxiety of depression feels like...

Finding your Values, 6

Seasons Values can adjust overtime to reflect the needs of the life season. For example, when you are parenting with a partner, you may value responsibility in ways you have not. Or, if you are in a season of pain and betrayal, authenticity might feel like a necessary character trait for those in your support system. Find your values through evaluating the needs of your season. Journal Prompt: In this season I value...

Finding your Values, 5

Accept You will have trouble investing in your values if you have not accepted them. People often have trouble accepting the less aspirational values. Expectations from the back shout, "this is what a person should value". Disregard the sense that this is a moral test. Values are not right or wrong, they are personalized and about meaning. Review the values list and look for the less-glamourous values. For example, consider the value of being "comfortable". While valuing comfort may not carry the notoriety like "family" or "trust" you might be surprised how often you respond to it. You might be surprised the meaning comfort brings to you. Journal Prompt: I have difficulty accepting...