Day 17

Hi. I have a confession. I haven't been so good at the journaling this week. I don't really get the dialoguing & that is what I am supposed to do today. When I did the dialogue technique a couple of days ago I wrote maybe a half page. It felt forced & fake to me so I didn't get much out of it. & yesterday I thought about what I was to journal about but didn't write anything. I think I will write about both yesterday's & today's but not using the dialogue method. If anyone has any advice on that I will take it.

I know what my problem is with current stressors though. I just make myself anxious about everything almost. I need to stay in the present moment. I get caught up in the future....but mostly with just normal tasks & things I need to get done. In addition, I start nursing school back up on the 25th & I've been working on things I need to review in preparation because everything builds on itself & they don't re-teach anything. As I am working on this I get emails from teachers of things to work on & our class Facebook group has started posting the reading assignments for week 1 on our group page because we can already see this info on our class boards. I hadn't planned for that.

We already have assignments & articles to read for Day 1. They waste no time & part of it is that we have our classes once per week & most of them are 3 hours. Gone are the days where you could just show up on the 1st day & get a syllabus & that is it. With the information age you have to show up having already read & done assignments. I am 36 years old & this is my 2nd round in college. I have a business degree I received in 2001 & those were the good ole days. Now, even this Facebook group page is a necessary evil. There is so much going on that people post great reminders, helpful study guides, or you can just ask the entire class a question & get answers so I can't just leave the group (even though I would love to). At the same time I just want to take a hammer to my phone. So that is where I am at. There is so much to do in the next week or so when we are still supposed to be on summer break! I guess I am resentful because this is just ridiculous & I didn't want to think about school yet. Nursing school is so stressful as it is for the 16 weeks we are in session & now we have work to start early. Ugh. Plus, I see everyone on our FB group page freaking out & I feel their stress & it makes me stress. I know I better start the work early though because it really will help to get things started before it is too hectic. Nursing school is at lightening speed & I still have this semester & then two more. It will be interesting to see how I do once school actually starts because my TMS recovery is important & also takes priority. When you are in school though you don't have time for much else but I made sure to get plenty of sleep last semester & exercise daily so it will be okay. I will still make sure to do those things as well (& at least my exercise now is more of what I WANT to do vs working on this tight muscle & that weak muscle...pfft...I started jogging last week & am almost done with a 30 day push-up challenge!)

Working on mindfulness. Breathe!

Hmm...I think this maybe was my journaling for yesterday regarding "current stressors"-lol!

 

Hi, Stef. Don't worry or stress about the dialoguing in the journaling. Just wing it. Write what you feel, what you think are the emotional reasons you are in pain. It's great that you are working on mindfulness. Deep breathing is so important. When I do my deep breathing I add a positive mantra, the old one that has worked for me for many years. I say on the long exhale: "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better." I either say it aloud or silently. It's very good in bed when I can't get to sleep, but also good any time.

Good luck in nursing school. You are in a wonderful occupation for helping others.

 

A friend of mine is a male nurse, married and with three children. He was a US Army Nursing Corpsman in the Gulf War and saw a lot of wounded.
He was a wonderful help to a lot of GIs. He's nursing now in Texas.

 

Thank you Walt. I think I needed someone to give me permission to journal my own way. :/
I love affirmations myself. I have found some great ones on YouTube...there are so many. Here is one I really like.

 

That is wonderful! I am not sure which area of nursing I would like to go into but luckily we get to see all different areas. This semester I will have an OB clinical & a psyche clinical. I am looking forward to psyche & not OB but who knows, maybe I will end up changing my mind on both counts.