Think Again!

Chapter 14: The Practice of Forging: Crafting the Plan • 123

what the Bible says, you can bring your emotions into alignment with truth.

How to Write Playfully Leaf’s research shows that the best way to reconcile thoughts and feelings is through writing (using an old-fashioned pencil/pen and paper). Your brain chemistry is changed when you physically write your ideas because the vibration of the pencil on paper transforms your DNA. 67 Your writing doesn’t have to be limited to words and sentences (journal-style). You can be creative through sketching, doodling, making diagrams, using color or texture, drawing charts, writing a poem, or composing a song. The method you use for writing is not important. The purpose is to be playful, going back and forth between what you feel and what you know to be true, until you reconcile the two. You need to wrestle with your feelings until they come to peaceful rest under the authority of truth. Examples One way to Write Playfully , is to contrast a feeling ( Gather Subjectively ) to a related truth ( Focus Objectively ). Here are a few examples of feelings and corresponding truths: 68

Feeling

Truth

It’s terrible to have a husband like mine

He is my God-given husband and although I would prefer him to act differently, I can live with him without making continued demands that only go unmet anyway.

It’s impossible to be happy with the wife I have.

It would be nice if she would change, but it is not essential for my personal happiness.