dalin
11-24-2008, 06:51 PM
The Benefits of Keeping a Journal
Keeping a journal has many advantages and benefits. Whether you write a few lines or pages, through journaling, you can record and track a lot of information that can be easily retained for future reference. You can actually see what you were thinking because your thoughts and experiences are in a journal. When you commit to writing them down, you have put your thoughts and experiences into a solid form. Below are some examples of the benefits of keeping a journal.
· Reduces stress - Journaling has a proven benefit of reducing stress. Once you've journaled, you don't carry as much of what you have written about within you. It is on the paper or in the computer. By journaling, you give yourself a powerful form of self-expression, and through that expression you can gain clarity, release, and relief.
· Setting goals and resolutions - You can actually see and better understand what you want, what is important to you, and how you feel, through journaling. Then you can create goals and resolutions to support what you are thinking and writing about.
· Organizes - Journaling your goals and what you want to accomplish for the day, the month, the year, or a lifetime, is an excellent tool to help you get those things done. You can create a personal checklist of "things to do."
· Helps focus - Writing in a journal creates more personal awareness, and therefore more focus on the issues that are important to you.
· The routine and habit of journaling means making time for you - When you set aside time for yourself, you can feel the benefit and gain from doing something specifically for yourself. It can show up in other areas of your life as you carry that time you have spent on yourself within you, and everywhere you go.
· Start your journal on any day of the year - Journaling is something you can start today, stop tomorrow, and pick up again next year. You can start and stop as you want. You can skip a day. It is your journal.
· Journal entries record the day, tracking your life - When keeping a journal, you record your experiences, dreams, ideas, desires, thoughts and more, for reflecting on now, and in the future. You are telling your story to yourself.
· Can better understand and accept yourself and others - Whether you re-read your journal or not, you can gain benefits from writing down your story, and your thoughts. You are writing about how you see and experience life.
· You can compare and explore the times of your life - Awareness of the past can teach and support your future.
· Creates a good personal reminder - As you journal the times of your life, if you are still writing about the same things over and over, it can help support your idea of what is working in your life and what is not. You are creating a record, and with that record in hand it is easier to see patterns, changes, and shifts. You can always ask yourself, "What do I want to carry with me?"
· Provides personal growth and freedom - Journaling can be a wonderful tool to help better understand yourself and the world that surrounds you.
· Becomes a treasured keepsake, a written scrapbook - A journal is a catalog of your memories. Over time, your memories become an irreplaceable treasure that can be looked at years from now, by you, or, if you wish, by others.
· Records and tracks business, personal or financial information - There are many ways to benefit from journaling, because there are many ways to keep a journal. A business journal can track appointments, meetings, finances, or log data. A personal journal can be about dreams, family, health, diets, hobbies, travel, or any other topic you want to record and track.
· Journals are great gifts for friends, family or to give yourself - You can give the benefits of journaling to a friend, or to yourself. With the benefits of journaling in mind, and the insights and power it can give to someone else or to YOU, consider journaling. If you never journaled, consider starting. If you have journaled, but have quit, consider starting a journal again.
Remember - write it down, get it out. There is power in the expression of writing.
www.dosomethingimportant.com
www.the5yearjournal.com
info@the5yearjournal
Writing, expressing can heal us. It can focus, support, and enhance our lives and well-being. Whether we laugh or we cry, whether through sorrow or joy, we can understand more about ourselves, and each other, through keeping a journal.
Some Benefits of Keeping a Journal
· Reduces stress
· Sets goals
· Organizes
· Helps focus
· Can improve well-being
· Makes time for you
· Creates a personal reminder
· Becomes a treasured keepsake
Journaling
On a piece of paper, write your answers to the question,
"Which 3 words best describe how you are feeling right now?"
When you are done writing, you have just journaled.
Writing about whatever is important to you right then and there is journaling. Tracking what you have planted in your garden is journaling. Writing about the family holidays together, or coffee with a friend is journaling. There is no set amount of words or pages that constitutes a journal. There can be a set theme or topic in your journal, but there does not have to be. I have written about soup, the weather, myself, my friends, and my dreams for the future, in my journal. A journal, which is the same as a diary, is a place where you choose to store what is important to you.
When to start journaling
Any day of any year is a good time to start your journal. The day you feel you want to start recording your experiences and thoughts is the perfect day to start - Whether on January 1, November 3, or today. There is no set time of year to begin a journal or to start to journal again.
Some people like the idea of starting their journal on January 1. They write their goals and ideas starting at the beginning of the year. Others like the idea of starting the very day it occurs to them that they want to write about their lives in a journal. Whatever you choose, it is the right way for you, and that is all that matters.
What to journal in
There are a lot of choices of where to record all those thoughts, feelings, ideas, dreams, and desires. What you will write in and what you will write with again is up to you. Try several choices, several types of books, and several types of pens or pencils. Find the tools that fit you. You can also record your journal on tape, video, or the computer. Writing a letter can be another form of journaling your experiences.
What to write about
I know of a woman who wants to be a comedian. In her journal she writes a joke a day. Another person had been stuck for several years writing her novel. She started to journal about writing her novel and gained the focus she needed. She finished her novel within a few months. Another person tracks every penny he spends in his journal.
The beauty of keeping a journal is that it is your book. You get to choose not only when to write, but what to write.
How much I write in my journal
Journaling is about what you want to express that day so, you can write as much or as little as you want - A word, a thought or two, pages, you choose.
Remembering to journal
Place your journal where you will see it every day. I do not mind taking vitamins, but if I do not see them I do forget to take them. Place your journal on your nite stand or where you have coffee in the morning. I keep mine on my desk, where I will see it everyday.
Part of keeping a journal, for me, is skipping a day, or maybe four. I usually write every day, but some days I do not. I forget to write or I do not get to it, or I have nothing to say that day. Skipping a day is a part of keeping a journal.
Keeping your journal safe
You may want to have a special secret place for your journal so no one else can read it. You can keep it in a locked box, or tuck it away. You can also ask the people around you not to read your journal. It is private and only concerns you. As you journal about specific events or people you can also use code words for those experiences. It is important that you feel safe writing about your thoughts so, think about how you can create that for yourself in your own environment.
With the passage of time, we gain a different perspective. Time is a healer. What was once hard, or unbearable, can now make more sense, giving us a clearer picture. Recording and tracking our lives, by keeping a journal, can actually bring relief, clarity, joy, and laughter.
Journal Series Part 2
Talking
Talking can be a beneficial healing tool. You can better understand your own thoughts
and feelings by saying them to a friend, in prayer or meditation, with a counselor.
You can give that to yourself. Saying out loud what we are feeling, no matter what those feelings are,
can be a very effective way to reach the emotions of our experiences.
When we say what we are feeling, even if we say,"I don't know what I am feeling," we can start the
process of healing and recovery. We have started this process because we admit where we are, at that very moment.
Admitting is enough. Admitting is where we start the process of recovery and healing.
Once you have discovered the first thought of how you are feeling, ask yourself the next question. For example:
"I don't know what I am feeling."
Question. "Why don't I know what I am feeling."
Answer. "I'm numb." or "I'm afraid."
Whatever your answer is, that is the absolute right answer.
Next ask yourself another question, why is usually a good question.
Keep digging.
Ask another question. Then another.
There is a vein of gold that you are following. You can discover a wealth of information about yourself.
With patience, time, and understanding you can find a more peaceful you.
Remember, you can talk:
To a friend
With a family member
In prayer or meditation
With clergy
In a group
Into a tape recorder
On video
With a professional
As you express your feelings, your ideas and fears, your concerns, listen to which words you use.
Words are very powerful and they tell us about where we are. Are you using positive, happy words?
Are your words dark and fearful? Simply watch your words to see if they work for you.
Do the words you use accurately describe how you feel now?
As you begin to process your emotions you may choose different words.
It can also help to process your feelings to journal what your experiences were.
Journaling can be a compliment and companion to your exploration of your feelings.
You can also share stories and experiences as part of your own healing. Listening to others is an effective way to heal.
You may find that you are not alone in what you are going through, even though it can feel that way at times.
You can also include music in your healing, it can soothe and inspire. Read a book that relaxes you, or that teaches you.
There are actions you can take to give to yourself the healing and focusing that we all need after traumatic events in our lives.
Take some time for you. Write in a journal. Talk with a friend. Scrapbook. Exercise. Listen to music. Love yourself.
Journaling Part 3
30 Day Journals
Whether you journal now, or have never kept a journal, you can keep a 30 day journal. Journaling for 30 days about one specific topic, can support you in many ways. Recording your thoughts, feelings, dreams, and desires, even recording just-the-facts, for 30 days is a powerful tool. You can track your ideas and experiences, realizing both your joys and your fears about a single topic. You can use this 30 day system for most topics, and throughout your journaling.
Think about what is happening in your life right now. Then think about a topic you would like to track or record on a daily basis: Your diet, finances, a relationship, a new experience, your job, a dream you've always had, a change you want to make.
Getting started
· Decide if you want to use the computer, a blank book, a notebook, or sheets of paper for your journal. If you are writing, pick a pencil or pen that is easy to use and is comfortable for you. Set aside a time and place every day for your journaling. Make this your time for you.
· You may or may not want to date your journal. You can even include the time of day when you journal, especially if you are journaling about feelings, health or diet. The time of day can affect our outlook. For example, at certain times of the day we may have more energy or be more tired.
· Write as much or as little as you want. Some days you may have more to write about than other days. There is no set amount you need to write each day. Slow down as you begin to write and feel what your thoughts are on that day about your topic. It may help to close your eyes, calm your thoughts, and remember to breathe easily.
Journaling
· As you begin your journal, write what the topic is that you have picked, i.e., I want to better understand my relationship with my friend Betty, or I want to process my feelings about the passing of my parents, or I want to know where every penny I spend goes.
· Next state your goal about the topic, and then how you, at this point in time, plan to resolve getting to your goal.
Example - My Goal - I want to understand who Betty is. My Resolution - I will write a list of my likes and dislikes.
Example - My Goal - To feel my current feeling about my parents. My Resolution - I am going to write my memories about them.
Example - My Goal - To better understand what I spend money on. My Resolution - I will record every expense amount, what it was for, and the day I spent it.
· Every day, write 3 words that best describe how you feel about your topic that day.
Good, moving, curious
Angry, confused, frustrated
· Every 5 days, confirm if your topic, goal, and resolution need changing, and if so, change them.
· Every 10 days, re-read your journaling and write a summary of how you feel about the last 10 days of writing.
After 30 days
· Decide if you want to keep your journal, or dispose of it in a safe way.
· You may find that you have reached your goal and resolved your topic before the end of 30 days. If so, stop journaling. Or, you may find that you want to explore this topic further, so start another 30 day journal. There is no set amount of time, 30 days is a guideline. Your time for a particular topic may be 10 days, 45 days, 90 days, etc. If you journal several topics, each topic can vary in the number of days. Journal until you feel complete and supported
Keeping a journal has many advantages and benefits. Whether you write a few lines or pages, through journaling, you can record and track a lot of information that can be easily retained for future reference. You can actually see what you were thinking because your thoughts and experiences are in a journal. When you commit to writing them down, you have put your thoughts and experiences into a solid form. Below are some examples of the benefits of keeping a journal.
· Reduces stress - Journaling has a proven benefit of reducing stress. Once you've journaled, you don't carry as much of what you have written about within you. It is on the paper or in the computer. By journaling, you give yourself a powerful form of self-expression, and through that expression you can gain clarity, release, and relief.
· Setting goals and resolutions - You can actually see and better understand what you want, what is important to you, and how you feel, through journaling. Then you can create goals and resolutions to support what you are thinking and writing about.
· Organizes - Journaling your goals and what you want to accomplish for the day, the month, the year, or a lifetime, is an excellent tool to help you get those things done. You can create a personal checklist of "things to do."
· Helps focus - Writing in a journal creates more personal awareness, and therefore more focus on the issues that are important to you.
· The routine and habit of journaling means making time for you - When you set aside time for yourself, you can feel the benefit and gain from doing something specifically for yourself. It can show up in other areas of your life as you carry that time you have spent on yourself within you, and everywhere you go.
· Start your journal on any day of the year - Journaling is something you can start today, stop tomorrow, and pick up again next year. You can start and stop as you want. You can skip a day. It is your journal.
· Journal entries record the day, tracking your life - When keeping a journal, you record your experiences, dreams, ideas, desires, thoughts and more, for reflecting on now, and in the future. You are telling your story to yourself.
· Can better understand and accept yourself and others - Whether you re-read your journal or not, you can gain benefits from writing down your story, and your thoughts. You are writing about how you see and experience life.
· You can compare and explore the times of your life - Awareness of the past can teach and support your future.
· Creates a good personal reminder - As you journal the times of your life, if you are still writing about the same things over and over, it can help support your idea of what is working in your life and what is not. You are creating a record, and with that record in hand it is easier to see patterns, changes, and shifts. You can always ask yourself, "What do I want to carry with me?"
· Provides personal growth and freedom - Journaling can be a wonderful tool to help better understand yourself and the world that surrounds you.
· Becomes a treasured keepsake, a written scrapbook - A journal is a catalog of your memories. Over time, your memories become an irreplaceable treasure that can be looked at years from now, by you, or, if you wish, by others.
· Records and tracks business, personal or financial information - There are many ways to benefit from journaling, because there are many ways to keep a journal. A business journal can track appointments, meetings, finances, or log data. A personal journal can be about dreams, family, health, diets, hobbies, travel, or any other topic you want to record and track.
· Journals are great gifts for friends, family or to give yourself - You can give the benefits of journaling to a friend, or to yourself. With the benefits of journaling in mind, and the insights and power it can give to someone else or to YOU, consider journaling. If you never journaled, consider starting. If you have journaled, but have quit, consider starting a journal again.
Remember - write it down, get it out. There is power in the expression of writing.
www.dosomethingimportant.com
www.the5yearjournal.com
info@the5yearjournal
Writing, expressing can heal us. It can focus, support, and enhance our lives and well-being. Whether we laugh or we cry, whether through sorrow or joy, we can understand more about ourselves, and each other, through keeping a journal.
Some Benefits of Keeping a Journal
· Reduces stress
· Sets goals
· Organizes
· Helps focus
· Can improve well-being
· Makes time for you
· Creates a personal reminder
· Becomes a treasured keepsake
Journaling
On a piece of paper, write your answers to the question,
"Which 3 words best describe how you are feeling right now?"
When you are done writing, you have just journaled.
Writing about whatever is important to you right then and there is journaling. Tracking what you have planted in your garden is journaling. Writing about the family holidays together, or coffee with a friend is journaling. There is no set amount of words or pages that constitutes a journal. There can be a set theme or topic in your journal, but there does not have to be. I have written about soup, the weather, myself, my friends, and my dreams for the future, in my journal. A journal, which is the same as a diary, is a place where you choose to store what is important to you.
When to start journaling
Any day of any year is a good time to start your journal. The day you feel you want to start recording your experiences and thoughts is the perfect day to start - Whether on January 1, November 3, or today. There is no set time of year to begin a journal or to start to journal again.
Some people like the idea of starting their journal on January 1. They write their goals and ideas starting at the beginning of the year. Others like the idea of starting the very day it occurs to them that they want to write about their lives in a journal. Whatever you choose, it is the right way for you, and that is all that matters.
What to journal in
There are a lot of choices of where to record all those thoughts, feelings, ideas, dreams, and desires. What you will write in and what you will write with again is up to you. Try several choices, several types of books, and several types of pens or pencils. Find the tools that fit you. You can also record your journal on tape, video, or the computer. Writing a letter can be another form of journaling your experiences.
What to write about
I know of a woman who wants to be a comedian. In her journal she writes a joke a day. Another person had been stuck for several years writing her novel. She started to journal about writing her novel and gained the focus she needed. She finished her novel within a few months. Another person tracks every penny he spends in his journal.
The beauty of keeping a journal is that it is your book. You get to choose not only when to write, but what to write.
How much I write in my journal
Journaling is about what you want to express that day so, you can write as much or as little as you want - A word, a thought or two, pages, you choose.
Remembering to journal
Place your journal where you will see it every day. I do not mind taking vitamins, but if I do not see them I do forget to take them. Place your journal on your nite stand or where you have coffee in the morning. I keep mine on my desk, where I will see it everyday.
Part of keeping a journal, for me, is skipping a day, or maybe four. I usually write every day, but some days I do not. I forget to write or I do not get to it, or I have nothing to say that day. Skipping a day is a part of keeping a journal.
Keeping your journal safe
You may want to have a special secret place for your journal so no one else can read it. You can keep it in a locked box, or tuck it away. You can also ask the people around you not to read your journal. It is private and only concerns you. As you journal about specific events or people you can also use code words for those experiences. It is important that you feel safe writing about your thoughts so, think about how you can create that for yourself in your own environment.
With the passage of time, we gain a different perspective. Time is a healer. What was once hard, or unbearable, can now make more sense, giving us a clearer picture. Recording and tracking our lives, by keeping a journal, can actually bring relief, clarity, joy, and laughter.
Journal Series Part 2
Talking
Talking can be a beneficial healing tool. You can better understand your own thoughts
and feelings by saying them to a friend, in prayer or meditation, with a counselor.
You can give that to yourself. Saying out loud what we are feeling, no matter what those feelings are,
can be a very effective way to reach the emotions of our experiences.
When we say what we are feeling, even if we say,"I don't know what I am feeling," we can start the
process of healing and recovery. We have started this process because we admit where we are, at that very moment.
Admitting is enough. Admitting is where we start the process of recovery and healing.
Once you have discovered the first thought of how you are feeling, ask yourself the next question. For example:
"I don't know what I am feeling."
Question. "Why don't I know what I am feeling."
Answer. "I'm numb." or "I'm afraid."
Whatever your answer is, that is the absolute right answer.
Next ask yourself another question, why is usually a good question.
Keep digging.
Ask another question. Then another.
There is a vein of gold that you are following. You can discover a wealth of information about yourself.
With patience, time, and understanding you can find a more peaceful you.
Remember, you can talk:
To a friend
With a family member
In prayer or meditation
With clergy
In a group
Into a tape recorder
On video
With a professional
As you express your feelings, your ideas and fears, your concerns, listen to which words you use.
Words are very powerful and they tell us about where we are. Are you using positive, happy words?
Are your words dark and fearful? Simply watch your words to see if they work for you.
Do the words you use accurately describe how you feel now?
As you begin to process your emotions you may choose different words.
It can also help to process your feelings to journal what your experiences were.
Journaling can be a compliment and companion to your exploration of your feelings.
You can also share stories and experiences as part of your own healing. Listening to others is an effective way to heal.
You may find that you are not alone in what you are going through, even though it can feel that way at times.
You can also include music in your healing, it can soothe and inspire. Read a book that relaxes you, or that teaches you.
There are actions you can take to give to yourself the healing and focusing that we all need after traumatic events in our lives.
Take some time for you. Write in a journal. Talk with a friend. Scrapbook. Exercise. Listen to music. Love yourself.
Journaling Part 3
30 Day Journals
Whether you journal now, or have never kept a journal, you can keep a 30 day journal. Journaling for 30 days about one specific topic, can support you in many ways. Recording your thoughts, feelings, dreams, and desires, even recording just-the-facts, for 30 days is a powerful tool. You can track your ideas and experiences, realizing both your joys and your fears about a single topic. You can use this 30 day system for most topics, and throughout your journaling.
Think about what is happening in your life right now. Then think about a topic you would like to track or record on a daily basis: Your diet, finances, a relationship, a new experience, your job, a dream you've always had, a change you want to make.
Getting started
· Decide if you want to use the computer, a blank book, a notebook, or sheets of paper for your journal. If you are writing, pick a pencil or pen that is easy to use and is comfortable for you. Set aside a time and place every day for your journaling. Make this your time for you.
· You may or may not want to date your journal. You can even include the time of day when you journal, especially if you are journaling about feelings, health or diet. The time of day can affect our outlook. For example, at certain times of the day we may have more energy or be more tired.
· Write as much or as little as you want. Some days you may have more to write about than other days. There is no set amount you need to write each day. Slow down as you begin to write and feel what your thoughts are on that day about your topic. It may help to close your eyes, calm your thoughts, and remember to breathe easily.
Journaling
· As you begin your journal, write what the topic is that you have picked, i.e., I want to better understand my relationship with my friend Betty, or I want to process my feelings about the passing of my parents, or I want to know where every penny I spend goes.
· Next state your goal about the topic, and then how you, at this point in time, plan to resolve getting to your goal.
Example - My Goal - I want to understand who Betty is. My Resolution - I will write a list of my likes and dislikes.
Example - My Goal - To feel my current feeling about my parents. My Resolution - I am going to write my memories about them.
Example - My Goal - To better understand what I spend money on. My Resolution - I will record every expense amount, what it was for, and the day I spent it.
· Every day, write 3 words that best describe how you feel about your topic that day.
Good, moving, curious
Angry, confused, frustrated
· Every 5 days, confirm if your topic, goal, and resolution need changing, and if so, change them.
· Every 10 days, re-read your journaling and write a summary of how you feel about the last 10 days of writing.
After 30 days
· Decide if you want to keep your journal, or dispose of it in a safe way.
· You may find that you have reached your goal and resolved your topic before the end of 30 days. If so, stop journaling. Or, you may find that you want to explore this topic further, so start another 30 day journal. There is no set amount of time, 30 days is a guideline. Your time for a particular topic may be 10 days, 45 days, 90 days, etc. If you journal several topics, each topic can vary in the number of days. Journal until you feel complete and supported