Creating Clarity Through Journaling
How Journaling Allows Me to Live My Best Life
We all have those moments when we run into a wall. Those times when we feel we lack purpose or we notice our heads swimming in a soup of negative emotions. During these times, a self-reflection practice becomes essential. For me, that self-reflection practice is journaling. Here are a few of the benefit I’ve noticed while journaling:
It Feels Good to Empty Your Head
I constantly overthink situations. I weigh every possibility multiple times before making a decision. I overthink because I want to make the best decision I can, but my overthinking often increases my stress instead of decreasing it.
I’ve used journaling many times to control my overthinking. Journaling allows me to look for the big issue causing whatever problem I’m deliberating. Once I can start to see this issue, my mind seems to settle down a little bit.
My head goes from a frantic playhouse for children to a more subdued walk through the park. There are still some thoughts running around here and there, but I get to choose which ones I pay attention to.
Journaling Helps to Remove Distractions
I think we all like to believe we’re constantly working in the direction of our goals, but, in reality, our goals are consistently changing and we have to change our actions accordingly. For example, we might say we want to volunteer 8 hours of community service a week.
Then, an opportunity shows up at work and we decide its more important than the community service, so we take it. This is a shift in perspective, something we are constantly doing. With journaling, we can acknowledge these perspective shifts and create new goals accordingly.
With the new opportunity at work, you might only have time for 4 hours a week. This allows you to continue volunteering without feeling overwhelmed by trying to fit 8 hours a week into your schedule. The main point is:
We don’t want to keep chasing past goals that don’t match our current visions.
As we change, we have to change our goals too. This will let us spend every moment in pursuit of our highest selves.
I Brainstorm Ideas
Journaling often leads to the discovery of new ideas. With journaling, we have time alone to write out all the thoughts we’re having and consolidate them into a few big ideas.
Through this process, we’re able to see new options and connect old ideas in new ways. I use journaling to find new ideas to write about, solve problems in daily life, and think of new ways to perceive and give to those around me.
Our lives could be pretty well summed up as a collection of ideas, and journaling is a process that can help us discover more authentic and meaningful ideas.
Using Journaling to Put Struggles in Perspective
We all go through difficult times, whether it’s losing someone close to us or having a long, difficult day. During these periods, journaling helps us remember that everything is okay.
Our current problems cannot last forever. The end is somewhere down the road, and we have the ability to anticipate that end. The current pain and suffering will eventually subside and we will have the chance to experience happiness again.
With journaling, we might even realize that our pain has helped us in some ways. We might start to appreciate the pain of our past as a valuable teacher instead of wasted time. Through journaling, we can begin to understand and accept our past with a sense of optimism while we work to create a better future.
