Short messages on Positive change from Respect Yourself, the guidance site for young people to help make good decisions in life.
If you can get your feelings and experiences out on paper, they can become less overwhelming. Looking back through past entries can help you to identify patterns, and give you ideas if you spend some time reflecting on what is keeping you stuck.
Set a timer for ten minutes, and write about your day until the alarm goes. Even if nothing at all has happened, you will most certainly have thoughts in your head that are dying to get out. Offloading conscious and subconscious thoughts helps the mind become clearer, and you calmer.
Ask yourself, do I want to pack and unpack this item when we move? This will stop you simply moving clutter from one place to another.
If you’re holding onto a possession purely because it’s expensive, and you no longer need or want it, you can use specialist websites to sell it, to recoup as much of your money as possible.
Be a friend to yourself and let a friend’s drama go when you walk away. A lot of the drama we experience in life comes from our interpretations of the things we experience – particularly after the moments have passed.
Sometimes what we’re labeling as drama is just someone who really needs us. Instead of using mental energy judging the situation as good or bad, focus on being there and being a friend in the moment.
Talking and writing isn’t always about performance or the telling of something – it can help with the processing of it. Getting it outside of yourself can give it a new shape for you to think about.
“Journaling” is the act of writing down your thoughts, feelings and experiences in a journal or diary. It can be used as a way to process the past (and sometimes the future) in the here and now.
When decluttering, ask yourself when was the last time you used or needed the item. For example you could put your freshly-cleaned clothes on the right-hand-side of your wardrobe, meaning the ones which migrate to the left over 6 months are the ones you no longer need.
It’s not always easy to donate or dispose of an item, but having a list of questions to ask yourself about it can help simplify the process, whether you’re moving house or just trying to clean up the junk.