8-17-03
YOUR OWN PERSONAL JOY-TRAP
As you know, My Sunday Journal draws on thoughts I have recorded over the years in my daily journal. And one thing I have learned to do is to use it as a joy-trap. Let me explain.
At the time you record something in your journal it may seem like a mundane thing. But with time you see it differently. Something seemingly mundane can later be correctly viewed as a major development in your life.
Seeing the significance of old developments in the light of today gives you a chance to use that experience as a joy trap. Just write about it all over again! Put it in the updated light. Explain today what came of that long-ago experience.
Another way to use your journal as a joy-trap is to tell the feelings you experience now as you read a page from the past. We live by feelings more than facts. Freud said man is an emotional creature, not a rational creature."
I remember a page where I told about running into an old friend. Each year since I have added the good times we have had going to dinner, sitting and sharing thoughts and laughing until we are goofy. That mundane experience of seeing someone from my past becomes more joyful each year as I catch more things in my joy trap.
Now here's a biggie. Raise people from the dead each year. When you record the passing of a loved one, the next year tell the thoughts about that person that have bloomed into joy-flowers in your heart. Talk to them. Tell them how you miss them but also tell them what they still mean in your life. We never really lose anyone as long as they are growing and blooming in our hearts.
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Any time you want a "drink of Dalton," go to www.daltonroberts.com. All his columns are gathered there by webmaster Pete Chaney. If you need a laugh, check out his goofy pictures.
