When saying yes hurts you.

Yesterday we wrote about times we have said yes when we wanted to say no. We thought about why we do this and wrote about that as well.

Today we will write about a time (or times) that we have said yes when it really has gone beyond not being in our best interest but has also hurt us.

Peace,
Susan

I said NO!!! (Saturday's Prompt)

If you are like me you often know the answer you want to give is NO, but somewhere between your brain saying no aand your mouth saying it something is lost in translation and you end up saying YES.

Today we will write about a time (or times) we have said yes when we wanted to say NO. Then we will ponder WHY we say yes when we want to say no and write about that as well.

Peace,
Susan

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word!

Today we will reflect and make a list of those we need to make amends (apologize ) to . It may be someone that you have not seen or spoken to in years, it may be your child, your friend, your spouse, your boss. It may even be someone that is dead. It may even be yourself. Today we will be proactive in apologizing for a past or recent wrongs either verbally or in writing.

Tonight we will have peace when we lay our head on the pillow. That is a priceless gift my friend.

Peace,
Susan

Courage of Conviction

Is there something you are willing to stand up for? Even if many around you do not agree? Is there a cause or a belief that you have that is worth putting it on the line? That my friend is courage of conviction.

Think about things you are passionate about and write out the things that you have courage of conviction to stand up for.

Peace,
Susan

If you were your friend.....

I love this quote that someone posted on Twitter

I give myself, sometimes, admirable advice, but I am incapable of taking it. - Author, Unknown

Today I want you to look at your life, your challenges, your achievements and anything you might be struggling with. Then I want you to advise yourself as to what direction to take as if you were giving the advise to someone else.

you will be surprised by how often we really know in our hearts what the direction and answers are but something inside of us refuses to act on it.

Write it all out!

Peace,
Susan

Did It Stop You?

Today we will write about a time that fear stopped us from moving forward. What was the fear of? Get really honest with yourself. Ponder the questions a while before you write if you need to. Sometimes fear is not as obvious as others.

Peace,
Susan

What's Your Fear?

We all struggle with fear at some level. Do your fears keep you from living your life, from taking chances, from making positive changes in your life,from doing what you really want to do or from moving forward?

Today we will fess flow write about our fears and how we think they impact the decisions we have made or are making.

Free flow writing is simply putting your pen to paper and writing exactly what you are thinking and feeling without taking time to think it through or worry about spelling, grammar or anyone else reading it.

For example, fear of rejection will often keep people from pursuing the job, relationship or dream they have.

Peace,
Susan

Let your IMPERFECTION shine!

I recently had a friend say to me "You must think you have to be perfect all the time"! Wow, that really resonated in my soul. The more I thought about the more I was sure that they were right. So I have decided not only that this will be the year of self discovery but have also made my word for this year IMPERFECTION. I created art and journaling to reflect that.

Today you will choose a word for this year and journal about WHY it is the word for you for this year. Oh and please feel free to use imperfection for your own word if it applies to you.

Is that what really how you want to deal with your stress?

Now that we have pondered the ways we deal with stress it is time to look at how healthy the outlets we have chosen are.

Prayer and Meditation HEALTHY
Exercise HEALTHY
Journaling HEALTHY
Creating Art or anything else HEALTHY
Therapy HEALTHY
Massage HEALTHY

The following list, healthy? Not so much!

Eating
Shopping
Drugs
Alcohol
Sex
Relationships
Working
Anything that is unbalanced (for example spending all your free time creating art when you have other responsibilities is out of balance)

Today we will look at our list of stress busters from yesterday and see what category they fall in. Are you actually creating more stress in your life by responding to it in a negative way?

If you stress release is found on the not so healthy list it is time to seek help or think of ways that you can release your stress in a healthy way.

Write your thoughts down.

If your stress busters are not found on the above list..please share with us what they are.

Peace,
Susan

Stress

Today we will write down the things we do to alleviate stress in our lives. Reflect on them. Are they healthy outlets? On Saturday we will cover healthy and unhealthy ways to deal with the stress in our lives.

Peace,
Susan

Random Acts

When was the lasst time that you did a random act of kindness?
Nothing lifts a spirit like reaching out and doing something for someone else. This works in two ways. The result of helping or encouraging another human being makes us happy and while we are doing this we are also switching focus from ourselves to someone else.

Today we will do a random act of kindness. It can be for someone we know or it can be a perfect stranger. They can know you are doing it or it can be anonymous.


After you have done this, write in your journal what you did and how it made you feel.

Peace,
Susan

Gratitude

Today we will list 25 things we are grateful for. You can list MORE if you wish but we must try to list at least 25. This is a great assignment to help put life back in to perspective.

Peace,
Susan

If you could change one thing....

If you could change just one thing about yourself, what would it be? Why?

Peace,
Susan

Time to Lighten Up

Okay...It;s time to lighten up a bit. Today you will write a paragraph (or bullet list) of at least ten things you like about yourself right now. For most of us this sounds a great deal easier than it is.

This is a short but important prompt. Don't pass it by.

Peace,
Susan

Goals to Reach Dreams

Today we will set goals to reach the dreams we have. Goals and dreams a very different.

For example, I have a dream of writing a novel as everything else I have ever written has been journals, poetry, magazine articles and self help pieces. Now goals to reach the dream of having a novel published would be to

Write x amount of time every day
Update my query
Inquire to publishers
Perhaps seek an agent as I have never used or needed one in the past

I will never realize my dream of writing that book unless the goals are set and followed.

This is just one example. I have a list of 17 dreams.

Your turn.

Take those dreams one at a time and start writing goals that you need to set to reach them.

Peace,
Susan

Art Journal

2011 The Year Of Self Discovery



Are you ready??

For those of you that wish to Art Journal I will have two prompts a month. One will be on the 1st and the other on the 15th. The first prompt will run an entire month so that you are able to get supplies together and have time to work on it.

We will create the cover to our journal for 2011.
Remember, this is YOUR JOURNAL which means you can do whatever you wish. You can make anything your journal you wish. You can use any medium you wish.

I made my cover from a sepia photograph of an old typewriter that we own. I wrote 2011 The Year of Self Discovery across the from of it. The typewriter was perfect for my journal because it represents how I will be discovering. Through writing and through journaling.

I have several ways you can share your work. We have a flickr group, A Mister Linky and my favorite way through the group I run here
http://divascreativas.ning.com/events/2011-art-journal-cover?xg_source=facebookshare

You can access all of the links directly on my blog.

Peace,
Susan

Dreams Take Two

Was it hard for you to write down your old dreams?

I know the first time I did this it was difficult.

I always wanted to be a photo journalist . I even went to our local newspaper to talk to several journalist and photographers when I was 14.

I didn't major in photography or journalism in college.

I also wanted to fall madly in love in a fairy tale type way or at the very least a burning passionate romantic kind of way with the perfect men (for me) and have children and live happily ever after.

I have been divorced TWICE.

After reviewing the facts I asked myself if my dreams today reflect the ones of my youth. They are similar but not at all the same. I looked to see if any part of the original dreams had lived or if they had turned to dust completely.

I am not a photo journalist but I am a published photographer and a published author.

I have four beautiful children.

So all was not lost.

Today after reflecting as above we will write down what are dreams look like today. If you are in a place where you cant even put down a dream because you have given up on them I want you to write out a page of what you would like you life to look like today if it was in your power.

Let the journey begin!

Peace,
Susan

Dream A Little Dream

Today we reach in and pull out the smallest package of all. It is labeled DREAMS.
It is small because so many of our dreams have shattered, were forgotten or died somewhere along the journey. We will sit down with pen in hand and start to recall childhood and teenage dreams. What did you want to be when you grew up? Was there any place you wanted to travel? Did you dream of having a spouse and x amount of children? Whatever they were, write them down. We will spend a few days on dreams of the past , present and for the future.

Peace,
Susan

Feeling or Choice?

Before unpacking anything else we need to talk about who you need to forgive.(Refer to your list from yesterday)

Forgiving is not a feeling. It is a choice. You can choose to live in resentment and bitterness or you can choose to forgive. Just an FYI..NOT forgiving only hurts you. The person you are not forgiving will not loose sleep, get an ulcer, experience stress or experience poor health because you refuse to forgive them. You will! Not forgiving only hurts you and it hurts you in several ways.

Some of you are thinking.."Well you just don't know how badly they hurt me" or "You wouldn't forgive them either if they had done this to you".

Some of you are struggling to forgive the hardest person of all...yourself.

I suggest if you can not reach forgiveness on your own that you find a good book on the subject, talk to your pastor or priest about it or seek therapy.

You MUST forgive if you are to live in peace and in health.

Peace,
Susan

Heartache

Next out of our backpack of baggage we are carrying around with us is a package labeled heartache.

I know you are thinking "DON'T GO THERE" but to unpack, look at and clear away baggage we must.

Write down the heartaches (Heart breaks) in your life time. The ones you carry with you into your life now. Into other relationships.

Have you ever made someone else pay for the actions of someone in your past? We do this by not trusting, putting emotional walls up and in many other ways.

I am very guilty of this myself. So this is one thing I can talk about first hand.

Free style journal this prompt. Free Style writing is where you put your pen to paper and let your thought flow onto the page without worrying about spelling or what it sounds like. Just get it all out.

Be kind to yourself after this prompt. We will talk about feelings on Thursday.

Peace,
Susan

Letting Go of Bad Habits

Yesterday we identified our bad habits. Today we will take the next step in turning them around.

As you look at your list of bad habits ask yourself if you are really ready to let go of them. Do this with each one. After all, you may have the bad habit of drinking too much coffee(oh yeah, that's one of mine) but not be ready to give it up. If you are not ready to change the habit this exercise will not be productive.

However, if you are ready to let go of habits that are harmful to you or holding you back it is time to begin.

After you have decided to remove the harmful habit from your life write down exactly how you will do this. If you really wish to succeed I suggest you find someone that you can be accountable to. Share your desire to stop this habit and ask them to check in with you once a week to see how you are doing.

Time to purge.

Peace,
Susan

If You Always Do What You Always Did

The next box out of that back pack is labeled BAD HABITS. You know you have some. Write them down. Did you know that If You Always Do What You Always Did You Will Always Get What You Always Got!

It's True!

You can not expect to have real change in your life if you continue to fall into the same bad habits and routines that you always have.

Today we will simply identify them. Nothing else.

We will work through them on Tuesday.

Peace,
Susan

Fear Of

Today we will reach in and pull out the package labeled (My Fears). We may even be afraid to look inside but in order to reach the our final destination of Peace, we must.

Do not be hasty in your writing. Really think about what you are afraid of. We will work on why on Monday.

Fear takes on many forms. Some forms are disguised as anger, apathy, depression and procrastination to name a few.

Ask yourself "What am I really afraid of"?

The first time I did this exercise and was able to become very honest with myself I was shocked at the results.

One of my fears was that if they(meaning anyone) really knew me, they would not like me. So I spent a great deal of time trying to be what everyone else wanted me to be.

Another fear was the fear of success. Yes, that is a real fear. I would constantly sabotage myself and therefore enable myself to stay where I was and not move forward with the goals and dreams I had for myself.

This may be one of the most important prompts we have this year. It can be life changing, so take your time.

Peace,
Susan

Wisdom to know the difference!

Today we will unpack the box that is labeled (things I control). You can control many things, for example, how you act, the things that come out of your mouth, what you put into your mouth, what you do with any free time you might have, how you treat others, choices that you make..but there are so many things we have an illusion of controlling that we really do not. For example, other people, how they act, think and respond to you.

I have always thought my life would run just a little more smoothly if everyone in it would just follow the script I have made for them...lol

After all, I know how they should act towards me, what they should say to me and how they should treat me.

I love the serenity prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change (other people, places, things and circumstances), courage to change the things I can (myself), and the wisdom to know the difference.

Today we will make three list. The first list is the one that states everything and everyone that we think we are in control of in our life.
The second list will be the things we feel that we are not in control of.
After looking over each list and filtering it through the above pray we will write our third list that will reflect the truth, what we are and are not in control of.

Praying before for guidance is something that I recommend.

Peace,
Susan

Unpacking

You can always tell when I am out of town because at those times the prompts are fluffy and light as I am not prepared to answer emails that often come my way after heart wrenching or harder prompts.

Well you will be delighted to know that I am back home and for the next week and a half you will be opening up places in your soul that you have not been in touch with in a while or perhaps that you have never opened.

Today I want you to take that back pack of garbage you have been carrying around off your back and start unloading it.

The first thing you will pull out is anger. Write out everything and everyone you are angry at. Write out WHY you are angry. Don't forget to include yourself. The one person that most of us are angriest at is ourselves. I promise. Don't forget to write out WHY you are angry with yourself. BE SPECIFIC. Be heartrendingly honest or this exercise will be of no use to you at all. We will explore more on Saturday.

Peace,
Susan

And These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things!

Do you remember the song My Favorite Things from the Sound OF Music?
Today I want you to list 10 of yours.
I like to do this prompt each year as my favorite things at the time often are different than they were in the past. Some are always the same.

What are yours?

Fill In The Blanks

Today I have decided to change ________ in my life!

When I examined my fears I found that my biggest fear was ___________.

One thing in my life that makes me very happy is _____________.

Peace,
Susan

Chapters

This is one of my favorite prompts that I gave you in 2010 and after living that year out I know I could certainly add at least one more chapter so...

Imagine your life written down in the form of a book. Every book has chapters so name the chapters for different times in your life.

The title of the book is The Life of ________(you).

Share your chapters here if you wish.

Peace,
Susan

In This Decade

We just wrapped up an entire decade. So our prompt today is to write down 10 things that we did or accomplished during that time. More if you wish,but at least 10.

After you have completed that list write ten things down that you want to do or complete in the next decade.Again, more if you wish but at least 10.

This can be a very revealing exercise.

Peace,
Susan

Fear of.....

I promised I would share my three resolutions so here they are..

I will lose the remaining 53 pounds I want to lose this year. I will achieve this by staying on track with what I eat and by working out a minimum of 4 days a week.

I will continue to eat healthy and will go macrobiotic once a quarter for 30 days which equals 4 months of macrobiotic eating.

I will finish the book. I will do this by working on for a minimum of 15 min everyday.

OKAY! Now that we have tackled that lets talk about one of the reasons why we sometimes make resolutions but fail to follow through on them.

When I became very honest with myself I had to admit that one of the reasons in the past that I have not followed through on weight loss was FEAR. I have addressed the fear and write down exactly what it was that I was afraid of. I have not conquered it but I have power over it now. So each time I am tempted not to follow my plan I look at why and if it is due to fear..I work through it and conquer that fear one day at a time.

I had to be very specific about what I was afraid of when it came to being thin again. It took a few journaling sessions and was not pretty but I was determined not to let fear of ANYTHING hold me back from living the life I was meant to live.

Your prompt today is to think about something that you are not doing or not addressing because of fear. Write down exactly what you are afraid of. Be very honest with yourself. Write it down even if you don't want to and then read it out loud to yourself. This is the first step in conquering your fears.

Peace,
Susan

A Firm Resolve

Resolutions are something many of us think about when the new year rolls around.
Many of us make a list of resolutions for the year only to be disappointed with ourselves by the end of January for no "sticking to them". Let's end that madness right now.

Today we will resolve three things that we want to change in our lives. Just three. We will be both realistic and clear.

REALISTIC RESOLUTIONS

An example of a realistic resolution is : This year I will lose a total of 53 pounds. I will do that by eating a healthy balanced meals and by finding an exercise program or physical activity that works for me and I will stick to it.

An example of an unrealistic resolution is: I will lose 53 pounds by March.

Did you notice how the unrealistic resolution is not only unrealistic but also vague? HOW does she plan on losing 53 pounds by March? She has absolutely no plan.

CLEAR RESOLUTIONS

An example of a clear resolution is: In 2011 I resolve to will finish the book I am
writing by committing schedule and hour each morning to write and work on the process of getting the book published.

And example of an unclear or vague resolution is : I am going to finish that book I have been working on this year.

YOU MUST PUT A PLAN OF ACTION TO YOUR RESOLUTION

Another key ingredient in following through on resolutions is to share that resolution with someone. Someone that will ask you how you are doing and hold you accountable.

You don't have anyone you trust that much?
You can always use me as your accountability partner.
If you don't feel comfortable posting on line you can reach me at smsummerville@hotmail.com

So are you ready to tackle this?

Write them down.

I will share my three with you on the 2nd before posting the next prompt as I would NEVER ask you to do something that I am not willing to do myself.

Peace,
Susan