This week's homework is gratitude journal.  First you get a nice journal which can just be from the dollar store (she got us one).  Write at the top "I love..."

 

Under that write things you love eg. walk on the beach; watch your kids sleep.  Do as many as you can think of.  You should have pages and pages.  It does not have to be done all at once.   Then write 3 things in there daily.

 

Now when you feel really mad about something write in a SEPARATE book or on a paper every feeling and thought you have about it.  Get it all out.  Acknowledge your feelings.  Don't block them. Then after you wrote it all out let it all go and go on with things.  I asked if I could then throw the paper out and she said that is a very good idea.  Then you go to your gratitude journal and read over what you wrote to remind you about all the good things in your life.   Replace the negative feelings which you have discarded with positive ones.

 

This excercise if about replacing negative energy with positive energy.  It is important not to use the same journal for the negative feelings.

 

There is a whole thing about emotions and about owning them, even thanking them and learning from them but that is a separate more involved thing.  Hopefully sometime I will have time to type up the sheet she gave us or maybe I'll find it on the internet.