Synopsis
With this Exercise Journal you have a valuable tool that helps you stay on track as you progress through your Captives Free Men’s Workbook. Journaling helps you become aware of your past behaviors and learn from your experiences to pave the way for new perspectives. You also have a record of your recovery process, personal thoughts, feelings, insights and more that you will want to keep and refer to for years to come.
Captives Free made a decision not to provide a great deal of space in the Men’s Guide for you to complete the assignments. Rather, you should do the majority of your writing and journaling assignments in this exercise journal. Each assignment contains discussion about the Principle presented and the thought processes necessary to complete the writing assignment(s). The assignment instructions are clearly marked within the discussion content of the Men’s Guide and in this Exercise Journal. It doesn’t matter if you are an accomplished writer or not. The act of writing out your answers no matter how basic they are is an important step in your healing process. We have tried to make the format as user friendly as possible giving you plenty of space to record your work.
This journal is for you to record your answers and thoughts with complete honesty. No one should read it uninvited. As you heal, you may want to review what you have entered in this journal. It would be helpful to date your work so you can see where you were compared to how far you have come.
Others may want to look at your journal. Your wife will probably be one of them. Understand the reasons for her wanting to see what you’ve written. She’s petrified and hurt. She wants to know the truth. She’s angry with you and feels she has the right to read your journal. It’s a healthy boundary to keep private the contents of this journal about your life. Explain to your wife the writing you do in this journal is between you and God. Don’t be afraid to set this boundary. (Another important suggestion is to keep your journal out of plain sight, so that others aren’t unnecessarily tempted to invade your privacy.) Since the writing that you do in your journal is between you and God, pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to help you be
honest and thorough and to guard your writings from unauthorized eyes.
You may at times want to show what you’ve written to your wife, your sponsor, group members, pastor, counselor, or therapist. That choice is acceptable if you decide it’s for your benefit. It is your decision. Refuse to be pressured into sharing your journal. You will want to keep your journal in a safe place. If you decide to lock it away, share with your wife on occasion that the journal is the only thing you are locking away by briefly showing her the contents of the secured area. After all she has been wounded by your secrets in the past and hiding things from her can trigger fear and past memories for her.
Lastly, this is your Exercise Journal. You cannot expect to benefit from going to the gym and not doing the physical work. You cannot expect to experience God’s transforming power and recover from your sexual addictions and not do the work.
We pray that as you follow this recovery journey and fill this journal you will know God’s love for you.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.