Getting back on track…

The chaos of playing catch-up in my morning reading ritual and daily journaling

Yesterday I posted my concerns about returning to a hostile work environment.  I spent a very sleepless night tossing and turning with my brain running bad scenario after bad scenario. I pleaded to the angels repeatedly to help me turn these thoughts off and let me sleep.  I did finally fall asleep for a short while but awoke with a stress headache.  Getting out of bed I acknowledged, “ENOUGH!  MESSAGE RECEIVED!”

I made a pot of coffee, lit my candle with a pray for insight from my readings.  I then got out my journal and morning reading books and spent a quiet morning reading, gluing, and writing.  The calm slowly returned the more I wrote. 

After the chaos; feeling the calm of getting it out of my head & onto the paper.

Messages from Choosing Happiness (Stephanie Dowrick):

Ø  “Trust in yourself flows from self-knowledge.”

Ø  “Self-knowledge lets you find your strengths and develop them.  It lets you recognize your passions and embrace them.  It lets you see what’s tripping you up and how you can learn something from it.  It lets you live in the present, rather than the past.”

Ø  “Listen to yourself.  Know what your moods are and how inevitably they will affect everyone around you. When you don’t like what you see, change it.” 

Ø  “…what you keep harking back to, whether you think other people have more power over your life than you do: these stories shape your character, temperament and sense of what’s possible.”

Ø  “…and a switch in attitude can bring a different “ending.”

Ø  “Notice what affects your moods negatively, what thoughts are driving your fearful thinking.  Moods are driven by thoughts; not the other way around.”

Ø  “You will be abundantly rewarded by spending just a few minutes each day or evening reflecting on: “What did I learn today?”  “What surprise me?”

 

Anxiety at an all time high.

Listening to the messages and getting them down on paper.

I made this list of ways to stay positive:

·         Do my morning reading ritual

·         Journal at night while watching the evening news: gratitude, “What did I learn today?” “What surprise me?”

·         Practice generosity by leaving RAK envelopes.

·         Strive to get closer to God by:  communicating the nuts & bolts of my day, silent thank you’s, quiet acknowledgement that I am not alone.

Found these fun stamps to journal with at Joann Fabrics

I need to take this feeling of calm with me as I enter into the chaos  and stress on Monday.  How do I do it?  How do you leave the chaos and stressors of work behind?  Please leave any advice you have in the comments below.