How I decided writing is healthy for me

Oh no, you have a huge dilemma and you have no idea what to do! You’re freaking out, stressing, maybe even on the verge of a panic attack. What are you going to do? Just breathe, it’s going to be ok. There is actually a fairly simple five step process to help with decision making. First, what is the actual problem? You can’t solve an issue if it’s clouded by a bunch of smaller issues. Gather all of the pertinent facts and have an idea of what the desired outcome should be. Second, what are the alternatives? How else could you go about solving this? Third, what are the advantages/disadvantages? Do you need more information? Next, what solution have you arrived at? And lastly, how well is the final result working out? Do you need to make any adjustments? If you can focus and think calmly, it’s not too difficult to solve your problem or make a decision using critical thinking.

The problem I’m having right now, isn’t really something to stress over or cause any anxiety attacks but it is something that means a lot to me. I’m basically a “Mommy Blogger”. Admittedly, I’ve been slacking in this area quite a bit lately. And by lately, I mean the last couple years. I love to write, I just never seem to have enough time to sit down and actually do it. For me, it’s not just about writing though. It’s a type of therapy. Whatever is going on in my world to frustrate me or cause me grief; from relationship problems, to kids driving me batty, to self-awareness, I can write it out to feel better and sometimes even come up with a solution. If I’m really lucky, what I’ve written will give another Mom the feeling of “OMG I’m not alone!”

So how am I going to solve my little dilemma of not having enough writing time or motivation? Easy. I’m going to break it down using my amazing critical thinking skills. Step one, what’s the problem? Not enough time to work on my writing. What’s my desired end result? More time to write and hopefully being able to reach and connect with a wider audience. Step two, what are the alternatives? I could continue to keep everything bottled up the way I have been doing for the past couple years. This has caused me a huge amount of stress and anxiety. I definitely need an outlet for my thoughts and feelings. I could also miss the possible opportunity of reaching another stressed out Mom who is struggling and feels like she’s all alone in her misery and confusion. Step three, what are the advantages and disadvantages? Writing equals less stress and possibly helping others. Not writing equals no emotional outlet for myself and the missed opportunity of helping others. Step four, what is my solution? I’ve decided that making the time for myself to write, at least a few times a week, is going to be beneficial to my own mental health, the well being of my family because I won’t feel like I’m going to snap at the end of the day and hopefully have a positive impact on somebody else in this vast world. To achieve this result, I’m going to need to express my needs to my family so that they understand that this is important to me. I’m also going to have to remind myself that I’m not Superwoman and there is only so much that I can get done in one day. I need to prioritize what’s important and what can wait for another day. Step five, how is this solution working for me? I may have to write another post to let you know.