HOW JOURNALING CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE

I’ve got through some of my toughest moments with journaling.

Family issues, break ups, depression, and even a pandemic.

It’s always been necessary for me to feel comfortable with my thoughts, but even more so as an adult.

Other than talking to God or someone I’m close with, journaling is a place where I can still be heard without a word coming out of my mouth.

And when you really want to vent or reflect on life, all you want is it’s a place where you can do just that and journaling is it.

Now, there are many ways journaling can be done, but for the sake of this post I’ll be referring to the regular pen and notebook format.

THE BENEFITS

1. You’re able to process your thoughts better. 

Everything we think isn’t necessarily true. 

We have all kinds of thoughts roaming around in our brain.

Good and bad. Strong and weak.

By recording them on paper, which is all journaling really is, you create a space for them to rest.

From there, you can make connections and develop a better understanding of what goes on in your mind.

2. You give yourself a moment to be still.

And we need that.

No replying, swiping, sharing, noting, pinning, or liking.

It’s only you, yourself, and time.

Give yourself a few minutes to not worry about your to-do lists or being productive.

Just be here, with you.

Set the tone with music that gives a calming ambiance and write about whatever’s on your mind.

3. It serves as a personal history book.

It’s hard to remember everything we go through when memories are all we have. 

By journaling, you can have tangible evidence of them.

The good, the bad, the ugly.

Not only that, they’re a great way to keep track of your growth.

From time to time, I like to go back and read old entries.

Sometimes I bust out laughing at how crazy I sounded.

Other times I’m reminded of all the pain I once felt.

Nevertheless, the pages makeup what comes to be your story.

And they are great to keep to reference certain moments of your life.

So, is journaling for you?

First decide why you want to journal.

Do you want to keep a record of your feelings?
Do you want to feel more connected to yourself?
Or is this something that you just want to try for fun?

For me, it was more so to have a place to vent than anything else.

But overtime, I’ve dabbled into all kinds of areas of journaling like gratitude/prayer journaling, prompt journals, etc.

---

I’m always going to recommend people to try journaling.

I mean, what do you have to lose?

There is no right or wrong way to go about it, so make sure you have fun with it.

(pun intended)

If you don’t know what to journal about:

Start off with your day.

How did it go today?
What did (or didn’t) go well?
What was a high (or low) moment for you?

And then you can talk about you.

How are you feeling?
Why are you feeling like this?
Why did ___ make you feel ___?

---

Journaling allowed me to experience therapy, before I ever saw a therapist.

Maybe you can too.

If you’re looking for a space to vent, keep track of your growth, or record memories, I think it’ll become a staple as you journey through this life.

Let me know in the comments if you’re going to try it out for the first time or if this is already something you like to do.