SOVA Blog

by ginger55

My Daily Journaling Experience

July 8, 2020 in Educate Yourself, LINKS

About a year and a half ago, I started a morning journal. I had no clue how to structure it, or how it even came into fruition. I do love To Do lists, so I would have small journals that would contain my daily To Do’s. From there, I have progressively grown and evolved what has now become a crucial part to my morning routine, so much that when there’s no pen on paper for that day, the day is definitely off. Aside from figuring out what tasks I am to accomplish for the day, my journaling in the morning provides me with the mindset that I need to make it through. I wanted to share my key parts to my current journaling, in hopes that it may encourage you to start your own unique version!

Daily Podcasts

I like to have fresh new ideas of how I want to set up my day for success. Currently I listen to “Increase Your Impact” podcast by Justin Su’a and the “Daily Shine” podcast for meditation. Both are super short and are  great to get me thinking about my intention that I want to set for the day. Building my day off of my intention reminds me of how I am working to be a better version of myself daily.

To Do List

This one is pretty self-explanatory, but seeing what needs to get accomplished for the day (and checking it off at the end of the day) helps me to prioritize my day. My “must be included tasks” in my daily To Do list will always have working out and reading.

5 to Thrive

Adapted from Rachel Hollis, a wellness coach and brand that encourages self-improvement, the Five to Thrive is a daily action goal of five items. They include; waking up an hour earlier than normal to have to yourself (when I do my journaling), moving your body for at least 30 minutes a day, drinking half your bodyweight of water in fluid ounces, giving up one food that does not serve your body in a healthy way, and five things you are grateful for from the day. I like to reduce these items to “Wakeup, Workout, Water, Food, Gratitude,” and provide checkboxes to mark off when I do them for the day. This practice not only builds good habits in small ways, but also allows you to see your progress when you look at how many days you were able to check off your items.

Daily Gratitude

I love to write down five things that happened during the day that I am grateful for. Since I journal in the morning, I usually reflect on the previous day for my five items of gratitude. They can be anything from “the coffee at my favorite shop was delicious this morning” to “talking to a loved one on a huge conversation today.” Creating daily gratitude is so important to not only create a positive thought and feeling, but throughout the day I find myself thinking more about how this moment could be a part of my gratitude. Daily gratitude reframes your whole day, because it allows you to find the good even on bad days.

Creating a better version of yourself is built in the daily minute moments of life, and daily journaling has worked for me to do that. There is no limit as to how you can set up your own daily journal, and you can make it uniquely your own. if that sounds too difficult, there are plenty of daily journals online that you can purchase that can guide you through your journal experience!

Have you ever tried journaling? Do you have a specific part of the day you dedicate for yourself to practice self-growth?

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by ginger55

Tying Self-Worth to Productivity, with a Little Shame Tossed in

June 15, 2020 in Be Positive

Throughout these last few months, I have been struggling with the balance of being productive and giving myself grace. While not as busy, it often felt like many days have been spent aimlessly scrolling through my phone or computer for hours, but at the same time I had already gotten a workout in or did my classwork. This sense of lack of productivity has caused a lot of shame within myself, as it feels as though I am not living up to the standard I have set.

With this feeling of being unproductive to my standards (which is a “go-go-go” mentality until I’m wiped), I am learning to give myself some grace. Each day does not have to be hugely successful in accomplishing a million things.  In addition, some days will look different than others. For me personally, I try to accomplish at least these three things: moving my body for at least 30 minutes a day, drinking plenty of water, and practicing daily gratitude. Anything more than these three things should feel like a great accomplishment, which I am working on feeling proud of myself for.

So why does this feeling of shame kick in that I am not as productive as I want to be? I think a lot of it ties into falsely creating the idea that your self-worth is tied to productivity. I have read a lot of articles and books on how this ideology is a slippery slope if you do not catch yourself. If you only tie your self-worth to how productive you are, you will inevitably tear yourself down from the inside. It is a necessity to give yourself grace, especially during these times. It may be hard one day to the next, but I promise it will be better when you allow yourself balance in productivity and grace.

You are so much more than what you think you are. If you, too, are having a difficult time being hard on yourself for not being productive to your standards, I challenge you to think of all the reasons why your self-worth is more than what you do. Your self-worth is how you feel, how you love, how you act towards others, how you think, and so much more. So give yourself some credit and grace, because I know I am working on it too.

How much do you value being busy? How do you feel if you are not being productive? Do you carve out time for yourself to take breaks?

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by ginger55

Growing Up with Anxiety

May 12, 2020 in Educate Yourself

Looking back at myself now to when I was younger, I can very clearly see signs and symptoms of anxiety, that was not just normal growing up. Some would include obsessively worrying about fire drills in class when we were told we were to have one, getting anxious about reading out loud in class, and performance anxiety surrounding the sports I did from third grade through high school.

I was unable to articulate to my parents what I was even feeling, because I did not know myself what was going on. For example, I remember countless mornings of having a stomachache at my grandma’s house before getting on the bus to go to school. I felt sick, but I did not know that it was anxiety that filled me for what the day was about to bring.

Without knowing what was going on, how could I possibly know, or anyone else know, that I was not just a child who was faking it to skip school?

Getting older, college classes became extremely difficult because I did not have the tools to know how to work through anxiety, especially with taking exams. I remember being completely debilitated through studying for and taking organic chemistry exams, especially since I had failed every exam in that class. Despite meeting with the professor weekly to try to work on class problems, I was anxious I was not going to pass the class. Looking back now it was not that I did not know the material, but rather I could not perform on exams due to the sheer amount of anxiety I had built up for myself.

I was 23 years old when I saw my first therapist. After graduating, moving to a new city, starting a full-time job, and breaking up a long-term relationship did my anxiety peak. I would have to leave work in the middle of the day to go to my car to have a panic attack, often leaving to go home after because I was so physically and emotionally drained.

I knew something had to change, and that this anxiety that I had ignored and pushed off up to this point was not going to get better with me doing what I had always done.

Seeing the therapist, developing a self-care routine of journaling and now having tools that I can use daily to reduce anxiety, I feel more in control of it. I have maintained this practice and have been further developing it for over a year and a half now.

This message I send is in no way to blame my family or parents for not setting me up to work through anxiety. Rather, I think it’s important to consider that others may not be aware of the anxiety they carry, and potentially bring to you. There is also no timetable for when it is a good time to get help for anxiety, and there is no shame in doing so at any age. I know I will be continuing my journey for myself and my anxiety, but for me it had to start somewhere.

What information did you grow up with about mental illnesses like depression and anxiety? When did you start recognizing your symptoms? 

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