Writing an Autobiography In searching for meaning in your life, and purpose for your life’s future, it is often helpful to write an autobiography. Do this in the third person. For example, don’t use I, use your full name. Talk about yourself like Bob Dole does. That is, "Patricia Jones was born August 23, 1966. She was the third child in a family of four at the time...." Try to spend some time on every significant period of your life, infancy, toddler, child, teenager, young adult and so forth... Get details from others if you can’t remember. Talk to old girlfriends, high school buddies, whatever.
If you need help writing an autobiography, here are a few web sites with some hints:
http://www.acappela.com/WriteOwn.htm
http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/compass/928.asp
There are also several books, the cheapest being:
From Memories to Manuscript : The Five-Step Method of Writing Your Life Story by Joan R. Neubauer
ISBN: 0916489566
Go to http://www.amazon.com and you can search for this book and others like it.
The important thing for our work here is to determine significant psychological events in your life. When, for example, was the first time that you experienced a particular feeling you associate with being with your SO? Was it with them, or is this a pattern that existed in your life prior to this relationship? If you have a low self esteem, how did this develop? What contributed to it? Is it something you can live without now?
You will use the information collected in your autobiography in many ways thoughout the rest of the program. You should continue to update it as you learn and remember new things about your past. Understanding your past is critical to creating a future that will be free of new mistakes. Make it a goal to make new mistakes rather than repeating old ones! In fact, the only real mistake is in not learning from our past mistakes. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, as it’s a great way to learn.
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Disclaimer: The information on this site (http://www.bpd411.org) is based on personal experiences of the authors and members of our e-mail mailing list. It is NOT meant to replace professional advice or take the place of counseling, therapy or additional personal research.
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