November 6 - Pen to Paper Strategy Helps Diminish Worry & Check your Credit Card Statements

A study found that writing about your feelings could help you perform stressful tasks more efficiently, says a Michigan State University study.

Years ago, I engaged in a daily ritual called morning pages and recall how the early day event helped prepare my day, for the better. The book I followed, The Artist Way, encouraged practitioners not to judge what we wrote. It was more about putting pen to paper our fears, judgments, worries, and the problems of the day. Over time, I looked forward to waking early to my coffee and journal.

Now a study suggests that we adopt a similar practice. The lead author of the research, an MSU doctoral student in psychology and a clinical intern at Harvard says, they found neural evidence for the benefits of expressive writing. "Worrying takes up cognitive resources; it's kind of like people who struggle with worry are constantly multitasking - they are doing one task and trying to monitor and suppress their worries at the same time," Schroder said. "Our findings show that if you get these worries out of your head through expressive writing, those cognitive resources freed up to work toward the task you're completing and you become more efficient."

Expressive writing makes the mind work less hard on upcoming stressful tasks, which is what makes worrier get burned out. Their worried minds work harder and hotter. The writing technique takes the edge off their brains so it can perform the task with a cooler head.

It makes perfect sense to me, recalling the daily ritual. My body and mind, after 30 minutes of writing without specific purpose or direction helped me feel relaxed. It was like my head was empty or mindless chatter, more focused to concentrate on what lies ahead.

Expressive writing is a strategy of wellness because it works to help alleviate stress, simply expressing what is on the mind and in the heart. It focuses on the feelings and not on the words, events, memories, things, or people in the content. Often it is turbulent and unpredictable, and not about the events but more about the feelings about the events or what happened. Try this exercise:

• Write a minimum of twenty minutes per day for four consecutive days
• Choose a topic that's personal and important to you
• Write continuously, and pay no attention to punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Keep the pen on paper and if you run short on what to write, just rewrite what was written.
• Write only for your eyes. Do not share.
• If you get into it but feel overwhelmed with emotion or stress, stop. Pick up later.
• Expect emotions to come up especially in the first few days. Eventually, the feeling level out.

Sign up for AGE with PURPOSE, my weekly Newsletter. To request, send email to - Carol@Seniorcare.com.

Carol Marak, aging advocate, Seniorcare.com. She's earned a Certificate in the Fundamentals of Gerontology from UC Davis, School of Gerontology.

===================

If you use a credit card to pay bills, you need to log into your online account to check the balance regularly. But how often? A good rule of thumb is once monthly, the very least.

It's crucial to go over your statement each month to make sure all the charges are valid and in the correct amount. Just yesterday, I checked my online statement and it showed a $5.00 increase to a restaurant charge. My receipt showed $23.27 and the credit card charge showed $28.27. Only a five dollar discrepancy but that's not how I see it.

You need to save receipts for all items charged. That makes it easy to verify accuracy. Then look over your credit card statement to make sure nothing looks amiss. In my Facebook group, frequently members report a dispute. And the overcharge doesn't come from small businesses like local restaurants and grocery stores.

I'm talking large big box retail stores. I'm sure it's an honest mistake by the billing department, but who knows. That's why you need to keep track of the receipts and compare them to statements. If it doesn't match, call the merchant.

Remember, after a purchase, the charge will be pending for a few days before it's posted. Many online accounts will remind you not to dispute charges that are pending. If the incorrect amount lists as a posted transaction, then you can take action.

Follow these tips to safeguard your credit cards and identity

• Check credit and debit card statements at least once a month (I check more often.) Notice any charges to companies but you know you haven't done business. This is the test that scammers use.
• Call your credit card bank immediately if you see something amiss. Start a fraud investigation, the sooner the better.
• When shopping online, use a credit card, not a debit card. Credit cards come with better consumer protections against fraud, and a capped liability of $50. Many cards also have zero-liability policies, so you're even more protected.
• When it's time to enter your credit card information, make sure the page's address starts with https:// rather than http://. The extra 's' indicates the site uses an encryption system to scramble information.
• Never give away your credit card number, PIN number, and password over the phone unless you have initiated the phone call with your credit card provider.
• Only use one card.
• If the card gets caught up in a hack like the one at Target, take advantage of the free credit monitoring service that is offered.

Avoid being blindsided. A former co-worker was turned down for a house mortgage due to an unpaid balance on a credit card which was issued in her name but which she never applied for or received.

Sign up for AGE with PURPOSE, weekly Newsletter, send email to - Carol@Seniorcare.com.

Carol Marak, aging advocate, Seniorcare.com. She's earned a Certificate in the Fundamentals of Gerontology from UC Davis, School of Gerontology.