Self Help Tip: Keeping a Journal

How to Keep a Journal for 

Self Help and Self Development

my journal and pen

The first thing I get clients on my YOUR Life in YOUR Hands course to do is to start keeping a journal so if you would like to take the first step on a journey of self help and self development, here are some tips to help you do just that.

My Daily Affirmation: 6th January

Daily Affirmations and what they mean 

Affirmation Cards

I have a basket full of affirmation cards I have picked up over the years, some are bought, some given, some I even made myself. Every day I pick one and sometimes they don't make me feel comfortable which is an indication I should probably be looking at why that is. For the next few weeks, in the darkest days of winter, I plan to share with you the card I pick for the day and the thoughts and feelings it stimulates. Maybe this is something you would like to copy as you reach for better health in mind, body and spirit.

How to Make a Dream Board: Cosmic Ordering: Just Ask!

from freedigitalphotos.net
Dare to Dream

What is cosmic ordering? 

Does cosmic ordering work?

Cosmic ordering is not new: some well known people admit to being believers including Sir Cliff Richards, famous singer and committed Christian. 

In metaphysics, the philosophy is, by writing down or in some way creating a representation of what is it you want, you help to make it come true. 

In a famous saying, ENERGY FOLLOWS THOUGHT and therefore it is possible to manifest all you wish and dream for.  Just be careful what you wish for - have a big garden if you want a hippo. It is also true that you will only manifest something if it is for your higher good.  So it won't guarantee you will win the lottery - but it may just improve your chances. 

How to get started:

Choose what representations to use for cosmic ordering

The important thing is intention. Create in your mind what best represents your desire. It doesn't really matter what you use as long as it represents it in your own mind. For example, if you want to reinforce your commitment to a slimmer, fitter you, you might pin a picture of yourself looking slim and fit. Or you might draw a rough figure that represents you and put in measurements and your target weight. 

Losing weight - image from freedigitalphotos.net

Photographs are obvious representations. Personally one of my dreams is to have a very private house, where I am I have neighbours on both sides and no privacy front or back - so it is no surprise that in central spot on my dream board is a lovely house. This one with a swimming pool to keep me fit, and a wonderful garden to attract my birds. 

from freedigitalphotos.net
dreaming  of attracting money

Of course for that dream to come true I need money, lots of money. The most obvious thing is to win the lottery - I know  - I know - but we can all dream. To represent a big win I have drawn a replica National Lottery cheque made out to me with the amount I want to win. Beside that I have printed out my lottery numbers. 

For simpler things, for example to increase my income I have printed cheques made payable to me from the various on-line sites I write for.  I've also included pictures of my book covers waiting for publishing and photo prints and canvases I want to sell. 

The only thing that limits you is your own imagination. The very process of creating your dream board gives your wishes energy. 

Choosing your surface for a dream boards

For most effect it should be where you see it frequently during the day. This is your commitment to your own wishes and dreams, you want to PUT IT OUT THERE, to show the cosmos, the universe, that these are things you really want to manifest into your life. 

Writing them down in a journal or on your computer is a start but it is even more effective if you display them. Be bold, do not be ashamed of what you want. Don't hide them away like a guilty secret. We have been conditioned to think that it is selfish to think of ourselves. Now it is time to set that aside as untrue. The most giving people are those who are self-fulfilled and happy with themselves. Believe you have as much right to the good things in life as you wish for everyone else. 

Of course your wishes may include non material things - anything you like. I want to have the space to foster cats for Cat Protection - I used to do that but don't have the room here.  I want to rescue battery hens... I want to save Greenhill from developers... I want... 
well you get the idea. 

My dream board is actually the metal casing around my central heating boiler that is in my kitchen, and is also incidentally where my computer is, so it is where I spend most of my day. I have used magnets to attach my 'dream' to make up a collage. 

Cosmic ordering is a form of positive affirmation. If you haven't come across those before, they are short positive statements you repeat constantly to yourself. They can be used for increasing self esteem, to reinforce the positives in your life or to manifest wishes and dreams. 

my dream board on the central heating boiler

You can also post your dream board on:

•  the fridge - a great place when you are dreaming of a slimmer, healthier you.
• mirrors - there is one thought that this magnifies your intention, that it actually reflects your wishes out into the ether. Use a wall or wardrobe mirror using the edges around it. It means you will see them every time you look in the mirror to fix your hair or make-up. Post-its are ideal for quick additions.
• a notice board is always handy. They have the benefit of being mobile plus you can use colour pins and threads and ribbons to brighten it up and to link things together. 
• string coloured threads around - use tiny pegs to pin wishes to your threads. 
• a dream tree - you can extend that idea to make a dream tree. Either use an ornamental one or use a real tree with dreams and wishes attached to branches. Just don't harm the tree. 
• pinterest - Create your dream board on pinterest and REALLY get it out there.
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  my cosmic dream board on pinterest

Has this given you some ideas? Good - now off you go and make your own.

 

Self Care: Taking Charge of YOUR Life

TAKING CHARGE

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Jump Start from freedigitalphotos.net

I've said it before and I'll say it again - each and every one of us is 100% responsible for ourselves. Forget about the caring and sharing that is different. Ultimately the buck stops here. YOU and no one else but you needs to take charge of your life and make all the decisions, all the mistakes and take all the opportunities.

Just taking that first decision to take charge, to stop being a victim is liberating. It's hard, yes I know it's hard, but ultimately it is the only way you can live your life. Take help and advice where ever and whenever you can, talk to people, to guides even, but know that whatever road you do take, it is your decision to take it.

As an aside, the reason they are called guides, is because that is their job, not to take charge, but to guide your path, to give advice, comfort even. If a guide makes the decision for you, he, she or it needs to be fired.

Acting on someone else's advice only gives you another target to shoot at if it doesn't turn out as you expected. You cannot pass on the responsibility for yourself. You can shift the load for a while maybe, but somewhere down the road it will all come back to you.

And remember the road NOT travelled may well have to be travelled another time, if not in this lifetime then in another one.

And the positive spin on all that? Isn't it exciting? Life as an adventure with an endless variety of paths to tread and all of them here just for our own lesson, our own individual achievement so that we can each evolve as a human being and as a light being? At the end of this life, you will be able to appraise it and be able to say 'OK is wasn't always easy but I learned this or I learned that.' Or even, ' I choose not to learn that this time - maybe I will the next time.'

I can fly - by annmackiemiller

How do you take charge of your life?

• First and foremost you need to learn yourself. Be totally aware of what your body, your mind and spirit are telling you. You have the most immense wisdom within you and you do have the capacity to access it.

• Physically know what foods your body responds well to. Take the time to work out those that hinder your health, for example, dairy products, wheat, yeast or sugar. You don't have to produce severe symptoms or allergic reactions to have a sensitivity to certain foods. You can tell by really listening to how your body reacts after taking these foods, try one a time to eliminate them.  For example you might feel slow and sluggish the day after eating lots of dairy products and so on. 

• Further look after the physical body by taking some exercise. It doesn't need to be strenuous, start with 5 minutes a day with simple stretching and breathing exercises, Tai Chi or Yoga. Take a 20-minute walk 3 times a week or swim 3 times a week, both gentle exercise but two of the most effective in stimulating the whole body. Once you overcome the initial inertia that we all suffer from, you will find the more you do, the more exercise you want to do.

• Know when to rest. Pushing yourself to the limit isn't wise. If you don't take time to relax you will find nature will find a way to force you into it.

• Play. Just as important as work.

• Pamper yourself occasionally - you deserve it and you need it. It doesn’t need to cost anything. simply having a bubble bath or taking a night off works.

• Learn to listen to your inner self with meditation or with divination. These are tools to help you hear yourself. Meditation can be simply sitting quietly and allowing your breath to be relaxed, you enter a sort of half waking state where the right side of your brain, that is the intuitive side, can come to the fore. At first it may only appear as flashes but as you continue to exercise your mind in this way, the messages will become clearer.

• Find out some simple forms of divination - there is nothing spooky about it all, it is all rather magical - and you can use anything from a dictionary to animal guide cards to crystals. All you need do is be aware that you are asking for some message, hint or tip for that day or that situation. Then pick up a dictionary or other book, open it at random and read what your eye fixes on first.

• Learn to trust your instincts. Usually the first thing that pops into your head is the right one for you at that time. It is usually when we start to intellectualize things that we introduce doubts and make it more difficult for us to reach decisions. For me, the telephone seems to work really well but I seldom seem to trust it. I KNOW in my heart of hearts that if I can't get through on the phone there is a reason for it - maybe I need to think things through more, maybe it is not the right time for me to take action, maybe I need to leave someone alone. I find if I persevere until I do reach that person, something doesn't quite click, they will tell me they can't meet me as I want them to, or that this is a bad time for them. The same goes with the Internet which is really just another phone line isn't it? A community website I edit was 'stuck' showing only the home page for three weeks, until I took out the page telling the world I was selling the post office and it published first time. The universe does it's very best to save me time and effort. It's not its fault if I am sometimes slow on the uptake.

• Keep a journal or diary. This is an excellent way to getting to know yourself or at least at listening to yourself. It doesn't have to be elaborate - it doesn't even have to be grammatical. No one else will ever see it but it is revealing to keep going back to it after several months. You'll be amazed at the journeys you have taken.

There is a saying in Reiki circles, when you heal yourself, you heal the world. This is only the beginning.

This is part of the self-care programme Your Life in Your Hands from Ann Mackie Miller MA(hons) RGN, SCM, GSSR which will appear in book form later this year.