“There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position, and be bruised in a new place.”
~~Washington Irving, 18th Century author, biographer, essayist and historian, was exposed to means of travel quite archaic to our 21st Century experience. However, we can all appreciate the rugged exposure that a “stagecoach” must have offered to passengers of the time.
Have you ever experienced a situation in your life that went from bad to worse? Write about what happened. Where were you? What was your age? Who was with you?
Do you agree with Irving’s optimistic perspective or not? At any level, did you feel any comfort/satisfaction/relief? Perhaps, a window was opened in the distant future when your door was slammed shut . . . and, then again? Ponder this paradox carefully . . . where could relief ever be found in such a setting?
HAPPY JOURNALING!
What a delight to meet you once again this week – – – thank you for stopping by the cozy corner and Spinning a Good Yarn!
I look forward to seeing you next Friday, November 19th.
“What one actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him/her. What he/she needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him/her.” Victor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, as well as a Holocaust survivor.
Frankl reminds us that a call for change is a call to action that may truly bring greater fulfillment and happiness to our lives, if we only accept the challenge. On the contrary, when we take no action, we make a choice to accept the status quo as is! Frankl suggests that the tension resulting from a call to action – change – is a gift that beckons us toward personal fulfillment. This type of tension is a eustress or a state of anxiety that leads us toward positive feelings or a sense of fulfillment and success. Eustress is the opposite of distress and is that tension that offers opportunity for positive change.
This week, we consider the tension state of change as a condition of eustress rather than distress. Has eustress entered your life, beckoning change in a positive direction? What were those glowing and rewarding outcomes? What were your experiences as you journeyed that path that led to your own personal pot of gold? Or perhaps it was only a “gold nugget” but the outcome was definitely worth the state of tension that preceded it.
Many thanks for Spinning a Good Yarn at the cozy corner this week – can’t wait until we meet again on November 13!
~ ~ HAPPY JOURNALING ~ ~
Please make a stop at my Comment page before you leave. I would love to hear from you.
The fantasy-filled holiday of Halloween is a time of dress-up and make believe. Kids – yes, big and small – enjoy selecting costumes and concealing their identities behind masks and a variety of cover-ups.
On the surface, being someone other than who you are may sound frivolous, or simply a time for fun and frolic. Yet, the following quote might give you a moment to pause and reflect on this Happy Halloween weekend theme from a different perspective.
W.E.B. DuBois, American civil rights activist, sociologist, historian and editor said:
“The most important thing to remember is this: To be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become.”
How open are you to a sudden call for a change in your life? What type of change would be welcome or unwelcome? Why might you give any thought to DuBois’ words of warning? Why might these words be “the most important thing to remember?”
Thanks for visiting the cozy corner and Spinning a Good Yarn today!
Happy Journaling!
Visit me on my Contact page ~ see you on the first Friday of November!
Consider your thoughts about courage and honesty. When you have taken the plunge to muster your courage and bare your honesty? What happened? How did it make you feel?
M. Scott Peck, American psychiatrist and best-selling author, said:
“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”
When were you propelled by . . . discomfort – to the point of action? What happened? How long did you experience the sense of discomfort before you took action to make a change or to seek truer answers?Describe the “finest moment” that resulted for you from your action?
Happy you visited the cozy corner to Spin a Good Yarn!
Courage and honesty. These words by Eleanor Roosevelt in last week’s prompt taunted your brain and teased your thinking.
This week we consider Mrs. Roosevelt’s words from a diffferent angle, reflected in the words of another famous woman, Gloria Steinem.
Feminist and political activist, Gloria Steinem, said:
“This first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.”
We talked about the value of being a “learner?” The term “unlearn” is the opposite. What does “unlearn” mean to you in this context? What does courage and honesty have to do with anything, anyway?
Have you ever unlearned and changed your views based upon a specific experience or incident? Did the experience tap the core of your being and summon great courage and honesty? How did it change you – your perspective, your relationships, your attitude, your behavior?
~ Happy Journaling ~
~Glad you stopped by the cozy corner to Spin a Good Yarn today ~
Take a moment to write me on my Contact page!
See you on October 23 . . . at the cozy corner . . . keep writing!