Journal Power: Feeling Helpless

One thing’s for sure: anyone who keeps an upbeat outlook in the face of all the bad news these days has to be superhuman. 

The news is devastating, have you noticed? Oh, and how’s your cash flow? Better check, because mine’s starting to resemble a dry creek. Not to mention the depravity of popular culture these days, and our general lack of morals and heroes. 

Or maybe you don’t tune in to the global scene, but you’re occupied with family, work, or life issues that leave you with the same frustrating sense of, “This is so Complex, so Huge, so Impossible! What the #@%(&*!? can I do about it?” 

In the face of such indicators, it’s hard to be optimistic. You feel helpless; you lose your sense of purpose, your moral compass, even your reason for being. 

Okay then, now that we’ve hit rock bottom, let’s consider a few alternatives. 

You know, that’s the thing about rock bottoms: there’s nowhere to go but up. 

Grab your notebook and pen. 

Write “Feeling Helpless” at the top of a clean page.

Freewrite and/or continue to write a description of your feeling of helplessness. Get mercilessly clear with yourself about what that feeling is and how exactly it affects you.

Take a deep breath and write out the next step you will take. This may range from describing a step you will take towards dealing with the issue to simply walking away from the issue, or anything in-between. Given what came before, what will be your next step? Write that. 

This exercise alone will help to clarify, but if you wish to deepen the exploration, come back the next day and the next, until you feel like the question of helplessness has been resolved, at least for the moment. 

As you continue to work with your feelings of helplessness, your sense that there’s nothing you can do, you might try some of the following prompts. 

1. Make a page with two columns. On one side, list the things you feel helpless to do anything about. On the other side, list things you think you do have power to affect. 
2. Imagine that you are indeed absolutely helpless and there’s nothing you can do to make anything better. Take it to the nth degree. What do you look like when you have no power whatsoever? Then consider, what do you look like in real life? 
3. Make a list of powers you would like to have. The power to make someone love you, or the power to heal someone with cancer, or the power to become a millionaire. That sort of thing. Drill down to discover what you really crave, what you believe such a power would give you. 

Read about fellow journalers’ journeys as they wrestled with their feelings of helplessness and other devastating emotions in this free downloadable ebook - Dark Chocolate for the Journaler's Soul: 17 Personal Journaling Stories For Healing and Growth.