THIS BLOG POST CAN AND WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE (AND CAN EVEN CHANGE THE WORLD)
Yes. That can be said of this blog post. I am not kidding. Nor am I exaggerating or overstating this.
This is one of those blog posts that if we were all to do this at least once a month, our lives, and the world, would be a drastically different place.
I'm not joking. I am very serious.
Just remember rule one, the rule of thumb for journaling, the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. Now, read ahead and do EVERYTHING it says. Journal through from start to finish. Do not stop short of accomplishing everything here in this blog post. You'll gain insight, be transformed, and can help others to see their experiences, and the world, in a different light.
(Oh, I have goosebumps as I write this.)
WARNING: THIS IS A LONG BLOG POST. BUT, PLEASE DO NOT SKIP ANY OF THIS WRITING
This is a long blog post and there is much to do with this as well. But, please, whatever you do, do not skip any of this writing or journaling.
Hence, if you do not have a lot of time, you might just want to read it through right now, and come back to this later today. But, whatever you do, do not read any other blog post until you read all the way through this and take the time to journal thoroughly everything here.
A JOURNALING THOUGHT ABOUT THE MURAL POINT-OF-VIEW AND EXPERIENCE
Journaling helps us gain proper perspective and a better and enlarged point of view. It helps us see things differently.
Too often we are too close to the situation, to the moment, to be able to see the fulness of what is really going on versus our impression of what is happening.
For example: We might wonder why the house we wanted fell through or was bought by someone else. Then, we buy another house and find out we have some really good neighbors who become good friends with the adults and the children from both houses become friends as well. And not only that, but we learn later how the pipes burst and there was a flood that the original house we did not buy. Our initial impression is being upset and disappointed, but we do not see all the pieces of the puzzle coming together.
We do not initially see how better things are happening all around us, only because we fail to take a step backward and look all around and get a clear picture of what all we see and experience. We initially see all the challenge and storm, but do not see the full picture.
Let me tell you my mural-perspective philosophy:
The world all around us, including us, is a massive mural. We are just a small patch (piece) of that mural. And too often we get so involved in the moment, our reactions to it, that we fail to stop and think things through. But, it's even worse than that. In those times, we often are standing at the mural with our nose plastered against it, and are so short-sighted because of what we are experiencing and all of the emotion and challenges of that moment. All we see is the patch of swirling grey storm in front of our noses, and we are convinced to the depth of our bones, gut, and being, that there is nothing else. We think life, and the world, is that tiny patch of grey storm.
In that nose-to-the-mural experience, we have the close-mural perspective. That's all we see, so that has to be everything in our lives and in the world all around is. There is no more. That's what we think and believe.
What we fail to see through the challenge we see and the storm we think we are in, that if we were to stop, take a step back, we might see that we are standing in front of a big boulder.
Remember we are only one step from that massive mural of the world and life around us. Our noses are no longer against the mural, but we are just one step back from it, so we still call not see a majority of the mural. Yet, we convince ourselves that is all there is, that boulder.
We, then, think how the boulder is better than the grey patch we assumed was a storm when our noses were plastered against the mural. Yeah. That's better. So, we get comfortable and think how that's better than the challenge and storm we saw. A boulder is nicer than that. But, we want more. We hope for more. And if anyone tries to climb on top of that boulder, we might become offended as we think how that is our boulder. We might yell at them to get down. We might even try to stop them from going even further on our boulder. And at worse, we might even pull them off that boulder. After all, if life, that moment, was just that boulder, we would do everything we could to protect it and ensure it was ours.
Again, we are seeing all this in the mural, but, it's only because we took one step back.
What would happen if we took five steps back from the mural and gain a better perspective and point-of-view? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? One hundred?
We just might see that, yes, there is a boulder. But, it's on top of a mountain, and when we look all around, we are having a mountain top experience and can see for miles and miles. It's the most beautiful and captivating scene we have ever seen and it leaves us breathless and amazed by the beauty.
But, we thought at first the grey patch was a storm and that was all there was. And we were convinced of it and told everyone we knew about how terrible life and the world was because it was full of storm and challenge.
Then, we thought the boulder was all there was.
Then, we learn how there is a great, big, beautiful, breathtaking mountain top with gorgeous scenery all around that leaves us amazed.
We do this nose-against-the-mural, or one-step back from the mural, and make assumptions about how that must be true and we believe it with all our minds, hearts, and being. And that simply couldn't be further from the truth.
Journaling helps us identify what we see with our nose against the mural, identify how we need to take a step back and look around and identify what we see and experience then. Then, the more we journal, we take another step back, look all around, realize there is far more to the mural than what we have seen. So we keep journaling until we can see the full mural and have the best perspective and onlook and see and experience the mountain top experience.
Journaling helps us move from being short-sighted and only seeing ourselves in that painting and can then see how there are many people all around and each have their own vantage point from that mountain top experience since we all stand on a different spot from the mural.
Thus, journaling moves us from focusing on self to looking at not just the circle of the people in our life, to seeing how there are a lot more people out there, and all of their lives matter, since they are souls, and matter (and have value) just as much as you and me, and just as much as everyone in our lives (family, friends, co-workers, neighbors). And journaling helps us see that the mountain range, and all the layers of mountains all around us, are big and majestic enough to include all of us. And we do not have to trample over anyone to get to the top with how massive the mountain range is. There's room for all of us, with plenty room to spare, and the mountain top is just as beautiful with all of us up there because there is so much room all around. Hence, we can all look at things from our perspective from that mountain top, and we do not need to feel threatened or divided. We do not need to divide either. There's enough room for each and all of us and the beauty of the scenery all around us is still as beautiful.
But, first, we have to see beyond that grey patch, that boulder, and where we stand on top of that mountain. Journaling helps us do this.
Journaling helps us gain more perspective.
Journaling also helps us gain proper perspective.
Journaling helps us move from focused and even selfish thinking at times to see that there are many more people with lives that matter just as much as our own.
And it does not matter if we agree with other people or not.
And it sure does not matter if we like other people or not. Because all of our lives have value. We are all souls.
(Sorry about the improper grammar, but I used it to make a point. Several actually.)
JOURNALING QUESTIONS AND PROMPTS ABOUT SELF
Please answer each of the following questions (including every one in each paragraph) and be as thorough as possible. This might take you a few hours or even days. Be thorough. Do not short-change this process. See where it leads. Journal, journal, journal. Keep coming back to this and journaling more. Go as deep as you can. Feel, think, and journaling everything through.
What emotions did you have when you read that journal thought?
What were, and are, your thoughts?
Can you think of a time when you have had your nose against the mural? Describe that. Explain. What was that like? What did you experience? What did you feel, think, experience, learn?
How is your nose against the mural right now? In what way?
Could your nose be against the mural and you do not even realize?
How might you be short-sighted right now?
How and why are you not seeing the full picture right now? What is preventing it?
What storm or challenge are you seeing and possibly experiencing?
How are you feeling at this point?
What are you thinking at this point?
What are you going through in your life right now? Explain and describe. Paint the picture of what you are experiencing. What are you feeling, thinking, planning, experiencing?
In this very moment, as you journal where and when you are (at this precise moment), paint the picture or what you are experiencing, feeling, thinking, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching (feeling), and sensing (instincts, gut feeling, discernment, intuition). Be as descriptive as you can be.
Can you see beyond where you are sitting and journaling? For instance, if you are sitting in your family room, can you see your kitchen? If you are in a café., can you see the parking lot, other buildings, other people, other scenery, etc.?
And do you know that there are more around you right now, in this moment, than your house or the café? Do you know that there is a block, a neighborhood, a part of town, a town or city, a county, a state, a nation, and a world of many nations/countries all around you? Describe what you know in your journal. Describe what you know sitting where you are. Describe what is going on beyond where you are sitting. Take some time to journal about what all is going around in the lives of the people around you, literally, where you are. What's going on with them? What are they going through and experiencing? Then, write what is going on in this moment with everyone you know. And then about your city. Then, about your county. Then, about your state. Then, about your nation/country. Then about the countries that surround yours. Then about any other nations/countries that come to mind. Then about the world in general.
Now, let's go back to where you are in your life right now and where you are… what you are experiencing… how you see things. Journal all about that right now. What's going on in your life right now? (Yes. You answered this before. Answer it again. You have a different perspective.) What are you going through right now? In the present? Today? This week? This month? What is in your heart? What is on your mind? How are you feeling? What are you thinking? What decisions have you made in the past couple of days? And what decisions are you making right now? What decisions do you have to make soon?
Wherever you are in life in this moment, whether it is a time of sunshine or storm or just a slightly cloudy day, there is more for you than just this. You will move beyond this moment. The question is when you move beyond it, whether you will count this moment a time of blessing or a curse.
After all, if all of us were to live to age 75, that's 27,375 days.
Your life is much more than 1 day of 27,375 days. (Journal your feelings and thoughts about that.)
Your life is much more than 7 days (1 week) of 27,375 days. (Journal your feelings and thoughts about that.)
Your life is much more than 30 days (4 weeks or 1 month) of 27,375 days. (Journal your feelings and thoughts about that.)
Your life is much more than 365 days (1 year) of 27,375 days. (Journal your feelings and thoughts about that.)
Your life is much more than 3,650 days (1 decade or 10 years) of 27,375 days. (Journal your feelings and thoughts about that.)
So, today (this week, this month) is a very small part of your life. Correct? (Journal your feelings and thoughts about that.)
Now, what do you think of the grey spot you see today? Is it a storm? Is it a boulder? Or is it part of the beautiful mountain top with stunning scenery all around?
Can you see how your life is so much more than this moment?
What would happen if you took a step back and tried to see more than just what you are feeling, thinking, experiencing, seeing, right now?
What if you were to see that no matter what you're going through in this moment, on this day, is a small percentage of your year and life?
CLOSING THOUGHTS: JOURNALING QUESTIONS OR PROMPTS
Please be absolutely thorough with your answers and journal things through. Journal as much as possible about each of the following and answer every question:
What are your feelings and thoughts about everything you read in this blog post?
What are your feelings and thoughts about everything you journaled for this blog post?
What have you learned?
How does this change how you see things today? This week?
How does this change how you see yourself?
How does this change how you see your circumstances?
How does this help you appreciate everyone around you, whether you like them or agree with them? For all of us are souls and our lives have value.
How does this change how you see things going on in the world today?
How does this change how you view your life?
How will you live your life differently now? Today? This week? This month? This quarter? This year? Overall?
How does this make you more patient with those around you?
How does this help you understand the people around you?
How can you lift up those around you, those you like and do not, those you agree with and those you don't? How can you help them live a better life?
How does all of this make your life better today?
How does this help you appreciate what you have, and who you have, today?
How does this help you see where you might be short-sighted and need to take several steps back and see the full picture in your life?
How does this help you see that you might looking at the life of another individual in a short-sighted manner?
How can you live better today, and be a blessing to everyone else around you (because you know you can see all around from the mountain top because you have journaled through so you can see a broader perspective and one that does not just include you and those close to you)?
List at least 10 blessings you have right now, in spite of what is going on in your life, and in spite of what is going on in the world.
PLEASE SHARE WITH ME/US HOW THIS BLOG POST HAS HELPED YOU GAIN A NEW PERSPECTIVE
Please add a comment at the end of this blog post after you read this and do everything it says. Please share your experience. It would be an honor to hear your story and what you learn through this.
REPEAT THIS JOURNALING EXERCISE
At least read through this blog post at least once month from beginning to end, including the journaling prompts.
Repeat this journaling exercise, this blog post, every word, every prompt and question, at least every three months. It will help you gain and keep proper perspective.
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