| 1 — The elephant in the room |
| What is the thing that’s giving you the most trouble right now? What is the elephant in the room? Stare at it straight in the face and write it down. Describe it — where it came from, how it’s making you feel, what you would do about it if you could. |
| 2 — Describing fears |
| Spend some time writing about one or two bigger fears you have. Let yourself really explore those fears for what they are. What do they feel like? What do they look like? Do they tend to crop up at certain times for you? |
| 3 — Feelings & emotion |
| If you are feeling particularly emotional (be it sad, nervous, happy, or angry) about something, take some time to write about that emotion, what led you to feel it, and what you think it may mean for how you feel, overall. For example, if a family member told you they’d like to come and visit you and you found yourself feeling nervous about that, explore why that might be. |
| 4 — Let go of control |
| List all the things in your life that you cannot control, and therefore, you cannot change by worrying about them. |
| 5 — Strength |
| Reflect on a few times in your life when you were particularly strong. Maybe you overcame something very difficult or trying, or perhaps you found yourself very nervous about something but you persevered and did it anyway. |
| 6 — Write a letter |
| If you are feeling particularly anxious about another person, use your journal to compose a letter to that person where you say everything you feel about them. Don’t actually send the letter, and decide you won’t send it before you start writing. This will free you up to really be honest with yourself (and your journal) about how that person makes you feel. |
| 7 — List it |
| Make a list — like a grocery list — of all the things that are weighing on you, whether they’re things that are worrying you or things that you fear. Putting these things in a journal may help you see them for what they are: separate of you as a person, and rather things that you are experiencing and that will, eventually, go away. |
| 8 — It’s OK not to know |
| What are you worried about that you definitively do not know the answer to, or do not know what the ultimate outcome will be? Write down, and recognize, that those things are elements of your life that you can’t see into the future to know the outcome of. Trust that it’s okay not to have the answers now, and know that you will be able to understand them when the time comes. |
Anna Godfrey 