How Spirituality Can Help Stress

Good to hear from you, Gail. Yes, I used to journal on a regular basis as well, especially when I was in crisis mode (like going through divorce) but generally when things are mellow - I get away from it. But last night I was reading a post from Uplift and it was about tapping into creativity by writing for 20 minutes each day. Here is the link http://upliftconnect.com/rewiring-the-brain-for-creativity/.
Teresa

@hopeful33250

Teresa, I write in one journal what I did each day, and I rate my pain and my mood. I write in another journal my feelings about things. This is part of my nightly routine, along with reading a chapter in the Bible, have a couple's devotion with my wife, and sometimes catch up on emails and Facebook. If I tried to journal in the morning, I think I'd go back to sleep.

Jim

@danybegood1

Trust is such a hard and complicated thing. I retired from the ministry when I was 55 because of depression, PTSD, anxiety and suicidal ideation. A chunk of that could be said to have been because of trust abuse. By that I mean abuse from people I thought I could trust. When I needed their support and understanding, they turned against me. They had no concept of what mental illness is.

I had a friend who was kind of a mentor to me, and one day we were talking about trust. He said that trust has to be proven. He would first trust someone with something small, and if they passed the test, he'd trust them with something a little more significant. And so on, until they had proven or earned his trust. I've tried to remember to follow that advice, and I was able to name, in time, a few people I knew I could trust. Those few people, after 25 years now, I'm certain of their trustworthiness.

I started seeing a therapist in 2006, and a major issue we worked on was letting go of the past people hurts. First came some discussion of who had hurt me over the years. That was hard because it stirred up a lot of pain and anger and bitterness, a lot of emotional sessions. After I had named the people and events, I did a fair amount of work to get to the point where I could begin forgiving. Between the hurt and the forgiving was a long process, and I think I'm not done yet. Of course, there's the matter of forgiving ourselves and letting out the guilt and the anger that was a poison.

I don't know why I wrote all that. I guess I tend to keep going past where I should have stopped.

One thing you might think about is the difference between trusting a person and trusting God. Have you thought about why you're stuck in this place of distrust? And maybe think about what it would be like to be unstuck. Just things that I've been working on for the past decade.

Thank you for being so open with the group. That might have been hard. But there are some good people in the group who may want to share how they feel about trust.

Jim

@jimhd Your formula for developing trust in people is so good, Jim! I have a friend who describes it like concentric circles, where you start trusting someone on the furthest circle from the center. As they prove trustworthy, you begin trusting them with more details - some people make it to the "inner circle" but not everyone. I've found that to be a great word picture. Your post reminded me of that! Teresa

@danybegood1 If you did have a good relationship with your ex-husband he himself is probably paranoid and may have honestly
thought he was looking out for your well-being. It really is hard to figure out other people though.
JK

@jimhd, thank you jimhd. You can go on as. Long as you want. I will think on all this.
Judy

@danybegood1, I guess it's often pretty easy to tell who not to trust. I'm sorry you were hurt and lied to. You didn't deserve the deception and mistreatment. I believe that you'll one day be healed from the scars, and will be able to go on with your life.

Jim

@gailb,@jimhd, thanks all..i hope so. Its a lonely place im in.

@jimhd I appreciate your sharing your journaling techniques, Jim. I hadn't thought of using two journals before, but that is great idea. I can see the value of dividing them up by category. I'm going to give it a try as well - I'm thinking perhaps of having a feeling journal and then a day-to-day activity journal. Could you share with us approximately how much time you spend each day journaling? Teresa

@danybegood1 Judy: I'm glad that you brought up this topic of trust. I agree with Jim. Please remember that rebuilding trust in people is a process. It is best done by taking a "small-step" approach, I think of it as trusting people in increments. Over time you will find those who are worthy of your trust and you will be more comfortable with them. Teresa