BY JOANIE MARX FEBRUARY 18, 2023 MINDSET https://sixtyandme.com/journal-new-love-story/
When was the last time you journaled with the intent of loving more of yourself?
There are many different reasons and ways to journal. But what about journaling a new love story for yourself after 60?
What would that look like? And why would this be beneficial to you?
In this article, we are going to answer those questions and more.
Loving More of Who You Are
When you cross the threshold of 60, you are entering a new era of your life. This means it’s time to create a new life on your own terms.
To do that requires letting go of limiting beliefs and loving more of who you are.
This is where journaling a new love story for yourself comes in.
To journal a new love story for yourself begins with a deeper knowing about what self-love is, and what it is not.
With this newfound level of understanding, a shift in perception illuminates the path to sustainable love and happiness after 60. It also opens the door to your personal freedom in ways you may not have experienced before.
This all sounds simple enough until loving more of yourself starts to feel uncomfortable.
Overcoming the Fear of Love
As I have shared in previous articles, self-love has been socially packaged into something disdainful, often being described as selfish, narcissistic, and arrogant.
Although love is universally desired, it is also feared.
This is because many people have been hurt or traumatized through experiences with love, but still deeply yearn for a loving relationship with others.
All this leads to both a mistrust of love and a misunderstanding of self-love.
As a result, when we reach 60 and desire a new, more loving life for ourselves, choices for that new life can feel intimidating and overwhelming.
For example, do you chase after love, or do you become the love you seek?
Processing this question, and others like it, can stir up anxiety on top of feeling uncomfortable loving more of who you are today.
So, how does journaling a new love story for yourself help overcome the stigma of self-love?
A New, Neural Pathway to Self-Love
When you journal a new love story for yourself, you are rewiring the neural pathways of your brain.
The neural pathways in your brain contain neurons that receive and process information. Everything from your emotions, impulses and memories are part of the neurons that send signals across your brain.
We are unconsciously creating new neural pathways all the time, but through journaling a new love story for yourself, you are intentionally and consciously creating them.
While these pathways are essential for learning and interacting with the world, some are not in our best interest. This is due to limiting beliefs that have formed unhealthy habits and perceptions about ourselves, especially as it relates to loving who we are.
Journaling a new love story produces a newfound way of seeing yourself. This in turn creates the foundation for daily practices of self-love and self-care without guilt, shame, or feeling uncomfortable.
Putting It All Together
In order for new neural pathways to take root, it’s not enough to just ponder new ways to love more of yourself. You have to take physical action.
Journaling is a physical action just as other forms of self-love and self-care practices are.
But they all start within you.
This inner and outer work is crucial for it diminishes the painful effects of The Seven Myths of Love & Happiness™, which I have written extensively about. These myths unconsciously shape your perception of reality, and usually in ways that are not beneficial to your emotional well-being.
Journaling a new love story for yourself is one of the more effective ways to silence your inner critic and ward off unwanted influence of people’s negative opinions. It also helps you not only set healthy boundaries through self-love but sustain them.
To help you get started, here are three excellent journal prompts:
- What new ways can you honor yourself and love more of who you are?
- A new story requires new experiences. With that in mind, what new loving experiences are you eager to create for yourself?
- What daily activity can you do less of so that you have more time for daily practices of self-love and self-care?
