Some Journal Prompts from https://anxietyspecialistsofstl.com/journal-prompts-for-anxiety/

What benefits would you experience if you were able to worry less?

Is any part of you concerned that you might miss out on something if you worried less?

Do you believe that worry helps you solve problems? If yes, what are some alternatives?

Some people believe that worrying about a negative outcome will help to prepare them if something bad does happen. Does this apply to you? Why or why not? If yes, is there any evidence against that belief?

https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/purpose-in-this-moment/

Personal Reflection (AI Gen)

• Are you longing for a solution, or are you longing for God Himself? Evaluate whether your focus is on the desired outcome or on deepening your relationship with your Creator.

• Is your faith transactional? Ask yourself honestly if you only trust God when He answers prayers the way you want, or if you trust His inherent goodness even when He is silent.

• What is your heart's posture in the waiting? Are you breathing through the period with hope and releasing fear, or are you holding onto anxiety and frustration?

Personal Reflection (AI Gen)

• Am I living a life true to myself, or am I living to meet the expectations of others?

• Do my current choices reflect my core values, or are they being driven by temporary circumstances or societal pressure?

• What are the three most powerful choices I’ve made, and what did they teach me about myself? [1, 2, 3, 4]

https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-spiritual-exercises/the-two-standards/

Surrendering Ambition:In 1521, a cannonball shattered Ignatius’s leg and his dreams of military glory, forcing him into a long, agonizing recovery. Out of boredom, he began reading about the lives of the saints, which sparked a deep conversion.

• Reflection:
• What "cannonballs" or unexpected disruptions have shattered my own plans or ego? How might God be using these painful or limiting moments to redirect my life toward a deeper purpose?

Paying Attention to Desires (Discernment)While recovering, Ignatius noticed that daydreaming about worldly honors left him feeling initially excited but ultimately empty. Conversely, thinking about emulating the saints brought him lasting peace and joy.

Reflection:

What desires, actions, or thoughts consistently leave me feeling drained and restless? What brings me a deep, lasting sense of peace and joy? How can I use these inner movements to help me make better choices?

Seeking new ways to use our imagination to pray!

The purpose of journaling is not to replay your time of prayer minute by minute. Instead, after your prayer period concludes, consider the following:

• What were the significant interior movements (that is, feelings, reactions, intuitions, desires, emotions, thoughts, or insights)?
• What was the prevailing mood of my prayer: peace, agitation, excitement, boredom, confusion, calm?
• Was my prayer more about the head or the heart, or about both?
• What word, phrase, image, or memory meant most to me during prayer?
• Is there some unfinished business that I think God is calling me to return to during another time of prayer?
• Is there something happening in my life that is becoming part of my prayer? Do I feel moved to do something concrete in my life?
• Am I making the necessary preparations for my prayer? Is there anything I am doing or not doing that is getting in the way of my listening to God?

https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-what-how-why-of-prayer/review-prayer-by-keeping-a-journal/

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
by Wendell Berry

When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Guidelines for prayer● I try to imagine a broken world going from the situations that are farthest to those closest to me. ● I meditate on the present situations of rupture with God, with creation, with others, with my inner self. How will the future be for them and for me if we continue down this path?● With my inner senses, I try to explore the final consequences and proportions of the wounds of our world.

The Goal of our life is to live with God forever.God, who loves us, gave us life.Our own response of love allows God's lifeto flow into us without limit.All the things in this world are gifts from God,presented to us so that we can know God more easilyand make a return of love more readily.As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God insofar as they help us to develop as loving persons.But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives,they displace God and so hinder our growth toward our goal.In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balancebefore all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice and are not bound by some obligation.We should not fix our desires on health or sickness,wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one.For everything has the potential of calling forth in usA deeper response to our life in God.Our only desire and our one choice should be this:I want and I choose what better leadsto God's deepening his life in me.(St. Ignatius as paraphrased by David L. Fleming SJ)Guidelines for prayerYou can choose between different approaches :● Read slowly calmly the Principle and Foundation and try to discover the areas in your life that are enlightened by God's light.● You are part of a covenant that God has made with us since the beginning of time, going back to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David... Jesus... Peter, Paul... Ignatius... and the torch has now been passed onto you. Receive this light as a legacy and reflect on how it has enlightened your life to this day. Give thanks for all those who have passed on this torch to you.● Everything in our life is a gift from God. With our gifts and choices we can enlighten the world or leave it in darkness. God is for me like a beacon that illuminates and guides me through life. Let me take a moment to thank Him for my areas of light and ask Him to help me get to know better my areas of darkness.https://www.educatemagis.org/wp-content/uploads/documents/2020/02/UAP_8_days_retreat_FULL.pdf

Some Catholic prayers for the soul !