How to Turn Two Questions into a Life Changing Experience

Article Title: How to Turn Two Questions into a
Life Changing Experience
Author Name: Doug C. Grant
Contact Email Address: doug @dougcgrant.com
Word Count: 631
Category: Motivational/Inspirational
Copyright Date: 2002
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HOW TO TURN TWO QUESTIONS INTO
A LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE

by Doug C. Grant

Here are two questions to ask yourself:...but they must be
asked and answered in a special way.

1. How am I feeling right now?

2. How would I like to feel?

Simple. Right? But don't let 'simple' fool you. There's a
lot of power behind those two questions.

YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD OF JOURNALING.

That's the process of putting your thoughts down on paper.
Perhaps you've always considered it an intellectual's past
time. Or maybe you think it's too much of a bore and
bother. Besides, you doubt if any of your thoughts are
worth putting on paper.

Back up! Let's take a second look.

Journaling is a powerful 'feel-good' tool. But here's a
bit of a twist on the standard rules. I call it the
Empowered Maturity Approach to Journaling.

1. You can use any old notebook or even just a piece of
paper. (I like to use those small 'class-note' booklets
available at any discount store. My wife prefers the full
size spiral notebooks. The thicker the better.)

2. Never write for posterity. I seldom ever read past
entries. They belong to yesterday. That's because I'm not
keeping a diary of events. I'm primarily writing about
feelings.

(I know that a dedicated journalist will have heart
seizures over this approach. They have bookshelves lined
with leather covered volumes. They not only enjoy rummaging
through the pages of their past but feel they are writing
for future generations. I write with no such pretensions.
Besides, I use so many abbreviations and shorthand symbols
that no one else could even begin to break the code...or
want to. I trade speed for readability.)

3. Neatness doesn't matter unless scribble really bothers
you. The important thing is to get your thoughts down
quickly. At best, your brain will always outrun your pen.

4. Before writing anything else, start with the two
questions at the beginning of this article. Don't just
treat them as a mental exercise. Actually write them.

5. Finally, write out the answers to the two questions.
Again, this is not a mental exercise. The actual process of
writing is important.

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE.

This morning I felt fine until I woke up. Immediately I
noticed I was uptight. No particular reason. But I knew by
the way I was feeling, I could look forward to a day of
tension and irritation.

I immediately went into my home office, grabbed my current
Journaling Book and wrote this question. "Exactly how do I
feel right now?"

I wrote out a top to toe analysis. I didn't bother asking
why I felt the way I did. I doubt if I even knew. I just
wrote what I felt.

Next, I wrote, "How would I like to feel?" I really gave
my answer a workout. I wrote about feeling enthused,
relaxed, full of vitality. I painted a verbal picture of
marvelous health and well-being. I filled several pages of
scribble about how tremendous I felt.

Notice, I didn't use future tense. I wrote as though my
condition of well-being was NOW.

How did I feel when I was done? Better. Not great but
definitely rambling along on a more positive track. And, as
the morning progressed, the good feelings kept getting
stronger.

THIS IS ONLY A START ON EMPOWERED MATURITY
JOURNALING...BUT A GOOD ONE.

If you do nothing but write answers to the 'how do I feel'
and 'how would I like to feel' questions, they can
substitute for a lot of pills and potions. Use them
whenever you experience mood slippage. Instant action can
reverse a negative slide and add a lot of 'up' to what
might otherwise become a miserably 'down' day.

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