How do I get started journaling?

The journal is your personal and private tool. It is not something you are going to share with others. You don't need to be concerned with grammar, spelling, punctuation, or penmanship. Your writing does not need to be structured like a formal essay. No one else is going to read and criticize what you write. What you want to do is get your thoughts on paper. The very process of doing that expresses feelings that you may have been inhibiting and gives you new insights into your relationship with your illness and life.

Get yourself a notebook if you plan to write your journal. My personal favorite is a half-size, college-ruled spiral notebook. You could get one of those pretty journal books, but remember, this is not about writing a romantic diary. It is about doing some hard work. What matters in journaling is that you just write down whatever comes to mind without regard to how the thoughts flow together. Just write. Write for at least 15 minutes. The only rule here is to keep the pen moving on the paper. Don't take time to sit and ponder unless you get a really big "ah-ha" insight. In that case, write it down before you forget your flash of insight. Pennebaker recommends that you write at least 4 days in a row for at least 15 minutes each time. You can write anywhere—at home, in a park, at a coffee shop, in an airport, whatever suits you. Different places stir up different thoughts.

Review your journal periodically. Rereading your journal entries 6 or more months after they were written is always revealing. Your journal becomes evidence of how far you have come. And knowing how far you have come, you find the strength to continue.

How can I stop myself from worrying about the future?

Everyone's future is uncertain, no matter how much they prepare and plan. Most healthy people don't ever imagine that they might become sick or disabled. You probably didn't think it would happen to you. But it has happened to you. And it does happen to 3 out of 10 workers in the United States. Now that your illusion of a safe future has been shattered by chronic illness, your future looks much more frightening.

Dwelling in the future and imagining catastrophic scenarios only robs you of your present moments. Once those moments are gone, you can't get them back. Your future becomes a time of looking back, regretting the time you wasted worrying about the future. Of course, you know that you can't control the future. You can do things now that might influence it, but you can't control it.

Most healthy people don't ever imagine that they might become sick or disabled.

When your mind runs off to the future or the past, there are ways to bring it back. If you have been meditating, you can recall the calm meditative state. If you haven't practiced meditation, you can still bring yourself back to the present. Stop for a moment, right now. Notice where your feet are and what they are touching. Become aware of the feeling of the air on your skin. Are you aware of your bottom seated in a chair? Are you warm or cold? Do you notice the texture of the paper and the cover of the book? What do you hear? Anytime you find your mind wandering off, you can bring it back by simply being aware of what is happening right at this moment.

If worries about the future persist, conduct a reality check. Ask yourself if anyone is threatening you right now. Are you undergoing a procedure right now? Are any of the things you are imagining happening right now? Do you have any real evidence that these things will happen? If you have a hard time doing this, check in with a friend or loved one. Ask them what they think. Then bring yourself back to the present.

If you are so agitated that you can't even apply these techniques, then count things. Name and count all the blue things in the room. Then do the same with red, green, orange, yellow, purple, black, and brown. Your mind can only really pay attention to one thing at a time. Once you begin to redirect your mind to the counting of different colored objects, you can go on to present-moment awareness and to challenging any irrational thinking.