Prompts

One of my favorite self-help books, Writing for Emotional Balance by Beth Jacobs, Ph D has a lot of depth and positivity to it. The subtitle is ‘A guided journal to help you manage overwhelming emotions.’ Well, it is a lot more than that.

I started my old journaling website, Inspired to Journal, from my extensive journaling practice. Each essay on the site, in the newsletter and on the daily prompt list was about my life. Some readers wrote saying how they loved my ‘journal entries’. That is how my writings were viewed, although that was never my intention. My writings were, and still are, extensions of my in-the-moment self. Sometimes they were followed by questions for readers to ask themselves, but mostly, I wanted people to relate or not. I wanted them to read my world and then examine their own. How did they compare? How did they contrast? What had I expressed that maybe they cannot?

The first time I was in group therapy in 1979, I realized that hearing other women’s stories made me feel not so alone or incapacitated. They talked about how I was feeling! They were not afraid to say what I was holding inside. I imagine that what I expressed did the same for them. When I write, I show my conflict then the ah-ha in a subconscious effort, perhaps, to mimic those therapy sessions. Women speaking helps other women!

I have unexpectedly changed lives by revealing my inner workings. I have no professional background, just a lot of self-examination and determination to redefine myself as a young adult. I write about me, and others benefit. I feel like the modern-day Barry Stevens. What an honor.

Beth Jacobs, on the other hand, is a clinical psychologist with a Ph D. I envy her that. I’d like to have the background I have in soul-searching coupled with a degree, not for credibility, but for completeness, to be able to see past my own issues into other people. I think I could really help others that way.

So this is where Beth’s book picks up where I leave off. This is a structured system from a professional, someone who works with this stuff every day. She defines the work to be done, then gives you a plan to do it. Me, I write and get you thinking; Beth moves you forward with this workbook. I highly recommend it.

This week’s prompts are from this fabulous book.

> Our reactions to our world exist in an extremely complex and
changeable internal climate of feelings.

> On sadness: If this feeling was a landscape, it would be…

> To avoid being emotionally overwhelmed, watch out for…

> Describe your ideal of a soothing sensory impression for: background
noises.

> Make a list of variables which combined to cause you to feel ________
(name a feeling – happy, sad, fearful, anxious, etc) (This is
paraphrased.)

> Emotion management can be said to be composed of Three C’s -
consciousness, clarity and coherence. Your first goal is to keep
thinking, or stay conscious. Next, you try to clarify what’s going
on. Finally, you work to modify either the situation or your reaction
to it so that the various parts of yourself fit together coherently
and you can move toward your goals, without being torn by internal
confusion and conflict.

The chapters of this book are titled:

Begin!
Distance!
Define!
Release!
Refocus!
Organize!
Regroup!
Maintain!

I think that says a lot…..

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