So, in my continuing effort to make myself a healthier and happier person (You would not BELIEVE the things I have forced myself to do and accomplished so far...and yet, I'm no happier, go figure...anyway!) I have begun a journal, well, a paper journal. In my journal I write down what I eat every day so I can figure out what my real allergies are, what new good-for-me things I've tried that day, what exercise I got that day and my general feelings for the day. I am also writing down what I'm grateful for every day and using a technique that I had sort of begun to formulate in my mind but then discovered that Elizabeth Gilbert's book 'Eat, Pray, Love , had a much better and more realistic version of it.
To be fair, I have not technically read the book, but I did see the author's interview on Oprah, so there! (I will eventually read the book, I swear.) The part of the book that I am using is her suggestion that you start off every day writing down what you really, really, really want. After you have done this for a while you can look for patterns which will then help you to realize what it is you actually want on a consistent basis. At the end of the day Gilbert suggests that you write down what your happiest moment of that day was (again you can look for patterns after a while) and also 'refine your mantra'. Her feeling, loosely paraphrased, is that everyone has a mantra, something they repeat to themselves throughout the day, but for many of us it may be extremely negative self talk, so we need to refine that mantra to reflect what we actually want to be saying to ourselves every day.
This is where I need some help. I find myself at a loss for a mantra. Sure, I have some favorite Bible verses or famous quotations that I love but they're not perfectly suitable. How do you find a mantra that is meaningful for you? Do you have any suggestions on how to do that? Do you have a mantra yourself? Let me hear em, people!
4 comments:
Mine is "you have summer's off with pay". It's the only thing that keeps me going in to work everyday.
Reba
Boy got me one of those cheesy buttons from the jewelry store, the ones that say "I am Loved"....and reminding myself of that is what I cling to when stuff hits the fan, or when the past creeps into my brain, or well, right now when my job is up in the air and I'm really feeling a lack of purpose. He loves me---and that's what keeps me going. this bright, funny, adorable, God-fearing guy loves ME.
Cheese, I know. but it's what i got. :)
you ARE, you know :)
Actually, Paul got one of those 'I Am Loved' pins for me too and I adore it. I have it on my purse and when I briefly lost if for a bit I was devastated. When I travelled back and forth between Canada and here it was my constant reminder that there was someone waiting for me who loved me.
That's actually a really good mantra...both for remembering that Paul and my friends love me but that God loves me too.
Thanks for the idea, girl, that's my mantra for the time being!
You are too, you know :)
And Reba, seriously, that's as good a mantra as any. You just have to be sure not to say it around people who don't get summers off with pay or you're likely to get beat!
"Be The Light" and other ones depending on what I'm wanting at the time...also, I like this technique, but it wasn't in the book anywhere that I remember, so now I'm jealous that I didn't see the Oprah interview...rats.
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