RYP Stories: 2015-05-10

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Journaling Stuff to RYP Journaling to Journaling Gems

A RYP Journaling Blog Post

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THE WINDS OF CHANGE

Have you ever noticed how quickly things change? Well, this blog and blog post are proofs of this phenomenon. (Never mind my life in the present.)

I have decided to keep things uniform and consistent and move back to this blog. This is a change.

I had moved from this blog to RYP Stories to here to Journaling Stuff. Now, I have decided to KISS it--and Keep It Simple, Stupid. (Stupid refers to me, by the way.)

So, what can you expect from this blog?

I will include several components each day in the blog posts. They will all have the title of: RYP Journaling Gems, plus the day's date. However, most of what I will share is timeless.
I will have a Journaling Prompt or Exercise as the very first part of the blog post, then a Prayer Journaling Exercise or Prompt, then a journaling how-to, some News Journaling links, and followed by some personal journaling.

Stay tuned.

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A JOURNALING PROMPT OR EXERCISE

Where are you in life right now?

How did you get here?

Where did you come from?

Where do you want to go?

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A PRAYER JOURNALING PROMPT OR EXERCISE

Do the previous prompt or exercise again, but now do it regarding your faith.

*~**~**~**~*

Blessings,
--Stacy Duplease
Email:
agodlyvision@gmail.com
rememberingyourpresent@gmail.com
Blogs:
http://rypjournaling.blogspot.com
http://rypstories.blogspot.com
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HDX Tablet

Switching

I am switching back to my journaling blog listed below, the RYP Journaling blog to simplify things.

I have moved all Journaling Stuff Blog posts there.

See you there.

Blessings,
--Stacy Duplease
Email:
agodlyvision@gmail.com
rememberingyourpresent@gmail.com
Blogs:
http://rypjournaling.blogspot.com
http://rypstories.blogspot.com
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HDX Tablet

Friday, May 15, 2015

Theme: A Journaling Prompt or Exercise

Come up with a word theme to focus on:
-- This week
-- This month
-- This quarter
-- This year
-- This decade
And, journal about it every day and at several points throughout your day.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Count Your Blessings: A Journaling Prompt and Exercise

Count at least 25 blessings of your past.

Count at least 25 blessings of your future.

Then, make a list of the memories they reminded you of. Then, you will have more memories captured on the page you can turn back to later and journal about.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Five Senses: A Journaling Prompt or Exercise

Stop.

Take it all in, whatever is around you. Catch every facet, big and small.

Write it in your journal.

Catch the five senses:

I see...

I hear...

I touch and feel...

I taste...

I smell...

Then, do this with several moments the last day or two.

Life is built on moments. Don't allow them to pass you by and fail to take them all in.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Thinking and Journaling

OUR THOUGHTS ARE THE MOST POWERFUL TOOL WE HAVE AND ARE THE MOST NEGLECTED

Our lives are so full, so busy, we barely have time to breathe, let alone think. Who has time to think something all the way through? Isn't this where most of our challenges start is in our thought life or the lack thereof?

Our thoughts are the most powerful tool we have in our arsenal for this thing called daily look vintage life. Our thoughts are the very thing that can make us or break us. They are what can help us life a thoroughly enjoyed and blessed life--or a tormented one. And it is our thought life we tend to take for granted the most.

We neglect our thought life, after all. We might become obsessed with a particular thought or line of thinking that we forsake all others. Or, we fail to think at all, never mind think something all the way through.

Our thoughts can stress us out or uplift us. They can strengthen us or weaken us. Our thoughts can help us live the best life possible, or the worst. If we want world peace, it begins in our thoughts and nowhere else.

Want to change the world, change your thoughts. Want to live the best life possible, change your thoughts. Want to distress, change your thoughts. Want to properly grieve, think. Want to make the best decision, think it all the way through from every angle.

Our thoughts are the most powerful tools we have to live, but are the very things we neglect the most and take for granted the most.

THINKING INTENTIONALLY

Since our thoughts are so powerful, we need to control them, rather than allow our thoughts to control us or allow our thoughts to act like popcorn popping in our head. We need to think intentionally and on purpose. However, we need to do more than just that. We need to think things through all the way through to the conclusion and then keep thinking it to remind us of the conclusion and what we are supposed to do because of the conclusion. This is how we live the most blessed, purposeful, content, and productive life possible.

Journaling helps us do this and more.

JOURNALING AND A THINKING LIFE

Thinking something all the way through and to completion, by arriving at a conclusion and a plan for action or inaction, is what separates us from an insect or an animal.

However, how often do we really do that? How often do we control our thoughts, rather than allow them to control us, think through all of the angles, think it all the way through to completion, and arrive at a conclusion we can then put into action or inaction--and keep bringing it to remembrance so we stay on track? How often?

Not very often.

As a matter of fact, our thoughts normally go in one of two ways: We obsess about the unimportant--or our thoughts are like popcorn popping, bouncing in every direction but do not lead to anything fulfilling and often lead us astray.

If we were to think a great deal more, we would not say or do something stupid, and we sure wouldn't reach false conclusions and act on them.

And, how often do we allow someone else to do the thinking for us?

Then, there are times we are lazy in our thinking and don't want to bother with it or just don't care.

None of that is good or helpful, and sure isn't productive and often leads to poor outcomes and mistakes.

Journaling helps us to think.

And not only that, journaling helps us to really think.

And journaling helps ensure we think correctly and think things all the way through.

THE BEST LIFE WE CAN LIVE IS A THINKING LIFE

For all of the previous reasons, journaling helps us live the best life possible: a thinking life in which we make sure to take nothing for granted and count our blessings, as we think something all the way through from every angle until we reach a conclusion or action or inaction.

Thinking makes us live deliberately and journaling forces us to deliberately think.

HOW TO THINK IN OUR JOURNALING: A JOURNALING EXERCISE OR PROMPT

The best help our journaling offers us in living a thinking life is we can write all of our thoughts in our journals, to let some go and to realize we need to think some other thoughts through. It's important for us to do this every day and first thing in our journals. We need to sort through our thoughts from the previous day, from the night, and what popped into our minds when we woke up this morning. But, get them down on the page in case later you realize there was a reason why you thought of it.

What thoughts are obsessive thoughts that keep coming to mind for some reason? Are they thoughts we need to work through, are silly and nonsensical and need to let go, or a combination of each? Then, do it in your journal: think it through or let it go. But, get them down on the page in case later you realize there was a reason why you thought of it.

Our thoughts can also be our to do list kind of thoughts. Get them down in your journal so you can think of something more productive. But, get them down on the page in case later you realize there was a reason why you thought of it.

If you think of any memories, capture them on the page. Is there something you feel compelled to think about and think through? Then, do so in your journal. Also, something to keep in mind is how you need to get them down on the page in case later you realize there was a reason why you thought of it.

Our thoughts can appear random and not make sense at the time, let me repeat, but get them down on the page in case later you realize there was a reason why you thought of it.
Every day, journal and think about the following:

So, go for it, write all your obsessive and popcorn thoughts down on the page, along with the things you were already thinking through in order to reach a conclusion.

What thoughts do you need to let go and move on?

What thoughts do you need to think all the way through, from all angles, to a conclusion and then act on the conclusion or do not act on the conclusion?

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Daily Journaling Exercises or Prompts

WHAT SHOULD YOU JOURNAL NOW?: IT'S YOUR TURN (A DAILY JOURNALING EXERCISE OR PROMPT)

These are prompts to go through each day answer one or all each and every day. Be thorough in your response.

List at least five blessings in your life today.

List at least five blessings from your past.

List at least three blessings you know or think you'll have in your life.

How are you feeling?

What are you thinking?

What have you done and experienced today?

Journal about each of your senses today: hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, and sensing/discerning.

Answer who, what, where, when, why, how, and what-if questions.

List at least three memories that pop into your mind. Give enough information of each memory you can journal more about it later. Now, journal more in-depth about at least one of these memories.

What are your dreams and goals? How are you going after them and making them come true?

What is an inspirational quote that comes to mind?

Are you focusing on a theme in your life today, this week, this month, this quarter, and/or this year? If so, what is it? How? Explain.

Where have you been?

What have you learned?

What are your favorites? Why? What memories come from each?

List at least five more blessings in your life.

Journaling Exercise or Prompt

AN EXPLANATION OF "A JOURNALING EXERCISE OR PROMPT"

A journaling exercise or prompt is meant to inspire you to journal. This is the definition.

Instruction: The journaling exercises or prompts are optional. They are meant to help inspire you to journal. Therefore, use them if you want, or ignore them until later and when they are needed or if you just want to journal more.

If you are having a good day of journaling, read these and see if they inspire you to journal more. If you need inspiration, use the journal exercises or prompts.

Feel free to come back to the journaling prompts at any time and do them. In fact, you might want to do each prompt several times over time. Your answers will change.

MY GOAL WITH THE JOURNALING EXERCISES OR PROMPTS

My main goal is to give you more information and more inspiration to journal than you could ever use in your lifetime. It is far better to have more options than not enough.

Therefore, I will include multiple journaling exercises or prompts.

HOW DO YOU USE THE JOURNALING EXERCISES OR PROMPTS?

How do you use (or do) the journaling exercises or prompts? Read it and start journaling whatever comes to mind, when it comes to mind, even if it has nothing to do at all with the prompt. After all, the point of a journaling exercise or prompt, is to get you to journaling.

Journal as much as possible. This is the goal.

Make sure to have fun with these prompts. It's meant to be inspirational, not pressuring.

SUNDAY JOURNALING: A JOURNALING EXERCISE OR PROMPT

1 What happened in your life this last week?

2 What challenges did you have?

3 What blessings did you have?

4 What did you learn last week?

5 How was your journaling?

6 What do you expect from this next week? What plans do you have?

7 What blessings do you expect or hope for?

8 What do you hope of expect from your journaling this week?

9 List at least 10 blessings now.