Two Habits I Used to Change My Perspective
How Morning Gratitude and Morning Journaling Changed my Perspective.
During quaratine the lockdown like most of us I had time to reflect and reexamine some of my habits and assumed ideas about myself and how best to interact with the world around me. I found that the old ways I had been living my life were no longer allowing me to cope with modern stress and anxiety. I needed a new way to do things if I wanted to flourish moving forward.
I want to say straight away that I am not a physician nor have I studied psychology in college or to an extent I could call myself expert. I am simply sharing what I have found works for me in the hopes that someone else may find these two practices helpful. Don’t we all quest for equilibrium and a skillset that helps us function our best in this modern world?
I was always spiritually or philosophically curious. Grew up in a mainline protestant household but practiced buddhist meditation. Read Kierkegaard in high school and William Barret’s Irrational Man as well as Unfettered Mind by Takuan Soho and D.T. Suzuki’s An Introduction to Zen Buddhism and Zen and the Birds of Appetite by Thomas Merton.
When I entered Whitworth University — it was just a college then — I formally set out to study the sublime and the thoroughly rational. Became a religion and philosophy double major. During my college years, I studied every bearded white dude you can name from the western intellectual cannon. John Calvin, Pascal, St Augustine, Immanuel Kant, Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Marx. Did my senior philosophy thesis on democratic capitalism and joined an ultra-conservative church my last year or two in Spokane Washington.
That is all years in the past now but hangs with me still. Lots of head knowledge lead me to seek more of the same. All those books and authors and church doctrine. You might figure I had a handle on things and ‘knew’. It was head knowledge. I spent the next twenty-some-years or so following the same plan, but was not able to fully focus on today. Spent so much time looking for what might or could go sideways.
During quarantine I had time to spare and investigate and spent a lot of time on Youtube. In my area, the libraries were closed for several months so streaming was one of the few places for entertainment or information available during the lockdown. Started watching many videos on LOA or the law of attraction.
Now I am no expert but I believe now there is something to be said for how we focus our energy or concentrate on our desires. I am not sure if we plan or a higher power plans and opens opportunities for us? Do we manifest or are we blessed? I am sure there is some bearded white dude who has an answer. Or the pastor down the street or the you-tuber claiming you can manifest all your desires including that guy or girl or money or boat or car or thing or status you want right now cuz that’s what you want and you deserve it too. I am sure someone has the answer to that. I guess I do not understand the magic behind the scenes, I know this worked to change my perspective to be more positive and focused and happy.
The two habits that helped me change my perspective in a positive way is gratitude and positive journaling.
Gratitude
The first habit I start my day with every morning is gratitude. I start by listing three to five or more things I am thankful for or want to express gratitude for. This has helped change the narrative in my mind from lack to abundance, from negative to positive, from down to up. I am not saying this would solve serious clinical depression. That is not what I am trying to suggest at all. I am saying that start your day with grace and turn from the anxiety of deadlines and traffic and your diet or whatever else you struggle with. Change your perspective into something positive and give thanks for what you have.
Morning Journaling
Also I have started journaling in the morning. Every morning in the same journal I just gave thanks for three things I start to write down my dreams and hopes for the future. The possible timeline choices here are infinite. There are no rules to how I practice this work. Sometimes I choose months down the road or sometimes I choose the next week or two. The point for me is not that I may tap into a higher power that will help me to manifest a particular journey. The point is to get these thoughts of the future down onto paper where you can later examine them and toss or embrace your own dreams.
Julia Cameron in her excellent book The Artist’s Way says that you should start each morning writing three pages of every thought that comes to mind. I found that restriction of pages. The stream of consciousness nature of her suggestion did not work well for me nor did the length. If I only felt like a few lines that is what I write now, or if I feel more is necessary then I write longer. The length is not as important as the actual doing the writing daily is.
Practicing gratitude and journaling my dreams have helped me to live less in my head and move toward my desires. It has helped me to connect with my heart, my intuition, and my gut feelings. It has helped me to understand myself more and refocus faster when I need it. I do not spend as much time stuck in my head wondering what can go wrong or is bad in the world.
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