10 Journal Prompts

1. What is the most important lesson you have learned in your life so far?

That you can find love and support in a world filled with people who care only for themselves and a world of evil, exploitation, and corruption. In short, if you give love to the world, you will get it back. Yes, you will be used by people, and there will be people who will actively try to harm you for it, but you will be loved.

2. Describe a time when you faced a challenge that made you stronger. How did you grow from it?

When mom got sick with cancer and needed to be cared for often, I pushed past the pain in my body and just did it. When she went into a care home it got worse. I visited every day and it was several blocks away and walking there was painful to say the least. I hid the pain and gave her my time and my love. How did I grow? I found strength of mind that I did not know I have, the strength to push past what I thought was the limits of my endurance and tolerance for pain.

3. Write about a special memory that makes you happy.

This will be TMI to some readers, but here we go. A friend and I are camping in the wild. We are miles away from a town and are on public land. We spent 3 days nude and enjoying nature. The feeling of grass under my bare feet and the wind on my nude body was liberating. There was nothing sexual to this, just 2 people being as nature intended in the forest and by a lake. To fish with your body free of clothing, to cook on a campfire nude, to enjoy another’s company while nude is a memory of a time of joy and contentment.

4. Think about a mistake you made and what you learned from it.

I moved in with a woman I though loved me. She did not, she wanted someone to dominate and control only. I was abused mentally and once physically. I was stupid enough to do this 3 times. What I learned is a solo life can be one of contentment and it gives you more freedom. Yes, there is more worry, but the freedom overrides the worry.

5. How has your past helped shape who you are today?

Every single experience, good or bad, leads to what we are. This changes slowly as we age and it rarely set in stone. I know this is not very specific, but neither is the question.

6. What are some things you are thankful for from your past?

Time with my family. The love and safety I once felt from that family. The freedom I had as a child to ride my bike from after breakfast to dinnertime and not once be home. The times I traveled, be it with family, or with friends, or alone, travel was an amazing part of my life. The things I’ve learned over the decades and how it changed my thinking. Good times with friends. The list is way too long to go on or this will be 20 pages. I’m grateful for 90% of my entire existence and all the people I’ve loved and that have loved me.

7. Write about a time when you faced fear or doubt and overcame it.

I am afraid of heights. I was, for a short time, a house painter. I had to be on ladders and scaffold to do the job. I literally forced myself to do it. The fear did NOT go away, I still have it, but I can ignore it when needed.

8. How have your past friendships helped you grow as a person?

Bad ones, they made me less willing to trust, and this was a good thing because I was exploited less after that. Good ones always make life better and improve your way of thinking and seeing this world. The good ones let us change our thinking and this makes us better people in many ways.

9. Share a memory of a kind act you have received or given.

I was waiting in the lobby for a delivery as the intercom was not working. I had a massive panic attack. A guy I did not know stayed with me and comforted me until I got my delivery and went to my apartment. He did not know me at all, but he was willing to give his time to improve my life a little. It helped a lot.

10. Think about your life journey and write about a moment that changed you.

This is going to be dark, and I am going to cry as I type this. There was a time near the end of mom’s life when I made the choice to cut off life saving measures and stop giving her medication to prolong her life. She was blind, deaf, could not communicate and appeared to be in constant fear. The meds may have given me another week or two with her, but at what cost? It was the hardest thing I ever did but I had to do it for her, to shorten the suffering. Part of me died when I signed the form. And when she died it was a relief in one way and a bit of me died with her. I was never the same person again. The world to this day is darker for me.