5 LETTERS TO WRITE IF YOU WANT TO FEEL CONNECTED AND HAPPY
Who doesn't want to feel more connected and happier in our life? I've found that by executing the following letter writing exercises, I've felt more connected to those around me, to my body, to my higher power, to my past, and even to my future. Consider writing one of these letter types weekly (specifically examples 1 through 3) to discover a sense of connectedness and joy.
- A letter of gratitude.
- By now it's no secret that gratitude is a necessary tool for happiness but recent studies have also found that writing letters of gratitude to others can boost your personal happiness as well as the happiness of who you've written to. In some cases, the residual happiness from writing a letter of thanks lasted as long as a month!
- A letter to your body.
- Positive self-talk is another powerful happiness tool to have in your toolkit. By writing a letter to your body, you can become more connected and shift your personal talk in a more positive direction. However, the power of writing a letter to your body is not only in your writing but in the response letter you get from your body back. Not sure what I'm talking about? Listen to Happiness Abound, The Podcast episode #141 to learn how to write to and receive a letter from your body to feel connected and happier.
- A letter to your higher power.
- Whether you believe in a higher power or in yourself, writing a letter to "something more" when you're having difficulty in life can be a good release of negative energy and offer an opportunity to look at problems in a different way. Just like writing to your body, the real connection comes in getting a responsive letter. This isn't about whether or not a higher power or your body actually write back, it's more about adjusting your mindset like you're speaking to another person, allowing you to be honest but also think differently about solutions. You can hear more about the format to use when writing to a higher power in Happiness Abound, The Podcast episode #142.
- A letter to your past self.
- If you've ever felt guilty or resentful about something that has happened, write a letter about it to your past. Follow a format of sharing the experience and your thoughts on it, then write how the experience has changed you (bad AND good), and write what the experience has taught you. End with gratitude and see how much more happy and free you feel.
- A letter to your future self.
- None of us knows or can predict what the future holds but writing a letter to yourself about what you want to happen and explaining in detail how things will look for you in a few years can be an exhilarating and liberating experience. Also share what you are struggling with, your trepidations and fears. Ask questions about life and how the people around you are doing. This exercise can help you feel connected to your life now as well as to your future. Use a future email tool like futureme.org to send yourself your letter in whatever future timeframe feels right.
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Tune into Happiness Abound, The Podcast (Episode 144) for the audio reading of this blog article as well as to hear additional color commentary on the inspiration for this topic, the details of my letter writing experiences, and more.
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Photo by Frantzou Fleurine on Unsplash