Ask anyone who has gotten sick from contaminated water or tried to avoid falling out of a canoe while going down the Amazon River teeming with deadly piranhas. They will tell you that water can be deadly.

But what about a person dying of thirst in the desert or someone who goes into the hospital because they’re dehydrated? Water can bring life.

There’s a wonderful scene near the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Indiana passes three deadly tests to get the holy grail, fills it with water, then pours it on his father’s gunshot wound so he does not die.

It’s a beautiful analogy for the power of your words. Your words can cut people down to the bone with sarcasm and criticism. Or they can bring life through wonderful storytelling, personal experiences, or inspiring content. The choice is yours.

Daily Question: As you use your words today, will they bring life or death?

The post Pour Out the Healing Waters appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

If you had to pin down one universal emotion that all humans experience, it’s pain.

To be human means to suffer. We suffer on a daily basis as we deal with the disappointments and frustrations of everyday life. But then, we also suffer when we go through the occasional major trauma such as the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a major sickness, or divorce.

We are often afraid to share our pain because we’re afraid we will look weak. So, we lock up our feelings in a box, set it on a shelf in the back of a dark closet, and try to forget about it.

This is not a healthy way to deal with grief or loss. One of the best ways to work through your pain is to write about it. The Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho said, “Tears are words that need to be written.”

So how exactly should you write about your tears? Here are three ideas:

First, you can journal about them. Journaling has been a time-tested method for working out your feelings and getting perspective on life’s events and disappointments.

Second, you can write non-fiction articles, books, or other types of material where you talk about your experiences directly. This is also a helpful way to work through your feelings, with the added benefit of helping others, as well.

And third, you can channel your experiences into fiction. This is an indirect way of processing your pain, but it can also be the most powerful way because you can say things in fiction that you could never say in non-fiction. The way you’re saying them is through events and dialogue in your stories.

Whatever pathways you choose, don’t be afraid of your feelings. Don’t stuff them in a box or lock them away. Writing about your pain can bring healing not only for you, but for your readers as well.

The post Three Ways to Write About Your Pain appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.