Day 5 is already upon us in the Daily Challenge. Since I am a writer, the writing challenges are not challenging for me. What I have noticed though, is there is already a pattern of repetition going on here… Two days writing, two days stretching yet it is only Day 5 since I have joined. The challenge will be, if they don’t give me something else to try, that I may not want to continue. Not because I don’t like the site. On the contrary, I love the site. It gives me something positive to wake up to and keeps me in that mindset all day. But, I don’t want to subject you, my dear readers, to the monotony.
Today’s Daily Challenge Monday Sep. 05, 2011
Emotional Health
EVERYDAY WELL-BEING
Write for 5 minutes about 1 thing that’s stressing you, so you can think about it more clearly.
How to do it
Take five minutes to write down something that’s stressing you out and why it’s stressing you out. Use the “hot pen” method: Write everything you can think of about your problem and don’t lift the pen from the paper until the five minutes are up. (You can type instead if you want – just make sure to get all of your thoughts out.) When you finish, take a few slow breaths, and then read what you wrote.
Why it matters
Multiple studies have shown that writing about a stressful situation lowers stress and improves mental clarity in dealing with the problem. When something is making us anxious, we can get stuck in a cycle of repetitive thinking that is unproductive and actually stresses us out even more. Writing can break that cycle by giving you something to do, by allowing you to vent and get your problem out of your head and onto a piece of paper. Once there, you may be able to deal with it more objectively and with a bit more clarity.
Fun Fact
In the 1960s, a company spent over one million dollars developing a ball point pen that astronauts could use in the zero-gravity conditions of space.
I do have a few stressful things that I am working out and a few that have already worked themselves out. But, I will not be publicly placing my 5 minute written out thoughts on here. Some aspects of this writers life are just not meant for the public eye.
This is a great exercise and I have used it for writing poetry to find a topic to speak about. My poetry class homework that required this, was actually the first time I have ever done the “hot pen” method. To be quite honest, my blog posts have already been doing this. No sugar-coating… just straight from the heart, mind and soul. The only difference is I edit it after I am done, so it becomes legible to all of you.
I can see how this challenge can be used to identify all of your stressful thoughts or emotions. Maybe you will discover something that wasn’t nagging your conscience mind but, was hidden a bit deeper. Lord knows, those deeper hidden thought sometimes have the biggest effect on our moods and the way we conduct ourselves throughout the day.
Ok, It’s your turn. Join in on the Daily Challenge; Facebook it, Blog it, Live it, Love it!!!
