Could It Be Magic? (Power of the Pen)
Cheryl thought it was like magic - "Is that all you did?" she asked incredulously. "Just wrote down what you ate and you lost fifteen pounds?"
Yes, keeping track of what I ate (Weight Watchers points) helped me change my eating habits and lose weight - not just go on a diet.
Likewise, when I began to keep a gratitude journal, I began to change my way of thinking and looking at the world.
When I can't go to sleep or when I wake up at 2 a.m. with a problem on my mind, I get up, jot down my thoughts and amazingly, I'm able to go right back to sleep!
How does this happen? First of all, when we write it down - whether we're talking about changing habits of exercise, food or it's our desire to save money - it becomes real. We can't forget what we did because we have notes and details; it keeps us honest.
Secondly, I know from counseling experiences that when we put troublesome thoughts on paper, immediately they lose some of their power to control us. If we keep them spinning around inside our heads, they just keep on spinning our world.
The other thing I've noticed at 2 a.m: you wake up with an idea or a solution to a problem - have you ever experienced that? That's great; however, sometimes it starts a chain reaction of thoughts and there's no way you're going back to sleep. It's kind of like your brain is saying, "Now, you can't foget this!" When you get up and write it down, your brain can relax - "OK, it's covered, you won't forget. Now go back to sleep."
You're familiar with "The Bucket List," I'm sure, or the concept of "100 Things I want To Have, Be, and Do In My Life." Just the process of deciding what you want is powerful, but when you get those goals written down, your mind is then very aware of them and goes to work on achieving them.
I recently had the experience of enjoying an awe-inspiring trip to Bryce Canyon in Utah; then, after returning home, found my "places I want to visit" list tucked away in a scenic magazine our son purchased for us. At the top of the list? Bryce Canyon, Utah. Even though I had written that list years earlier and in fact, had forgotten about it, my mind hadn't.
So whether you have a problem, a praise or a plan, write it down -- the power of the pen is like magic.
Cheryl thought it was like magic - "Is that all you did?" she asked incredulously. "Just wrote down what you ate and you lost fifteen pounds?"
Yes, keeping track of what I ate (Weight Watchers points) helped me change my eating habits and lose weight - not just go on a diet.
Likewise, when I began to keep a gratitude journal, I began to change my way of thinking and looking at the world.
When I can't go to sleep or when I wake up at 2 a.m. with a problem on my mind, I get up, jot down my thoughts and amazingly, I'm able to go right back to sleep!
How does this happen? First of all, when we write it down - whether we're talking about changing habits of exercise, food or it's our desire to save money - it becomes real. We can't forget what we did because we have notes and details; it keeps us honest.
Secondly, I know from counseling experiences that when we put troublesome thoughts on paper, immediately they lose some of their power to control us. If we keep them spinning around inside our heads, they just keep on spinning our world.
The other thing I've noticed at 2 a.m: you wake up with an idea or a solution to a problem - have you ever experienced that? That's great; however, sometimes it starts a chain reaction of thoughts and there's no way you're going back to sleep. It's kind of like your brain is saying, "Now, you can't foget this!" When you get up and write it down, your brain can relax - "OK, it's covered, you won't forget. Now go back to sleep."
You're familiar with "The Bucket List," I'm sure, or the concept of "100 Things I want To Have, Be, and Do In My Life." Just the process of deciding what you want is powerful, but when you get those goals written down, your mind is then very aware of them and goes to work on achieving them.
I recently had the experience of enjoying an awe-inspiring trip to Bryce Canyon in Utah; then, after returning home, found my "places I want to visit" list tucked away in a scenic magazine our son purchased for us. At the top of the list? Bryce Canyon, Utah. Even though I had written that list years earlier and in fact, had forgotten about it, my mind hadn't.
So whether you have a problem, a praise or a plan, write it down -- the power of the pen is like magic.
8 comments:
Thanks for the words of wisdom. Not only did you teach us to set goals, you helped us to clear our minds and organize our thoughts.
Luv ya,
Gloria
Thanks, Gloria - That's a great goal for me! Barbra
I liked this so much I shared it with a friend who is going through some hard times.
Thx Ms Barbra- I agree, writing places love and light on the darkest of emotions and thoughts and is like "miracle grow" on all positive thoughts.
Thx Ms Barbra- writing is like bringing love and light to my darkest emotions or thoughts and like placing "miracle grow" on my postives ones.
You are right! Writing down what you eat makes you more conscious of your decisions in food selection and greatly aids weight loss all by itself. Many people think you have to kill yourself in the gym to lose weight, but the cumulative effect of good eating decisions is far more effective.
Writing down your thoughts is a great way to get back to sleep! It has worked for many of my clients. Now if I could just follow my own advice maybe I would sleep better too.
Thanks for the nice post Barb!
Ah yes, Ted, it truly is easier to hand out the advice than take it oftentimes! But just writing this post was a good reminder for me! Thanks for commenting. Barbra
I am looking for some one to nominate my child for christmas through the denver resuce mission adopt afamily.org. can you help the support would be great due to us lunching out in the deep to be safe. Living in a domstic vilonce shelter.
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