Journaling - A Key to Joy
Are you interested in finding your authentic voice? Would you
like to be more confident? Does the sound of personal freedom
tickle your fancy? Would you like to learn more about yourself
in a very compassionate way? Do you suspect there may be
treasures hidden inside you that so far you've been unable to
identify and put to use? Are you looking for a way to
systematically make positive changes in your life? Is there a
book or an invention inside you just crying to be made manifest?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, read on.
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The Write Way to Self-Discovery... Who are your heroes? Who are
the people you've read or heard about whose stories stay with
you, inspire you? Have you wondered how they were able to
achieve greatness? For me, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin
and the explorers, Lewis and Clark, strike a chord. And I am
struck by the fact that all of them kept a journal.
The question is, "Did these men start journaling after they
became famous, or did they become famous after they started
journaling?" I don't know for sure, but because of my own
experience, I believe that journaling helped to guide their
journeys - both outer and inner.
When I first began my quest to discover who I am, I found
journaling quite painful. I was angry. By giving myself
permission to write about my feelings, I opened the floodgates.
Repressed and pent-up emotions spilled out onto the page. These
outpourings gradually transformed over time. As I grew in
understanding of myself, I was prompted to change some of my bad
habits.
I saw that I had been listening to my "stinking thinking", which
resulted in poor choices and an unbalanced life. In truth, I was
only able to see this clearly when it was right in front of me
in black and white. Because journaling has been such a rewarding
tool for me, I strongly recommend it to my clients.
I am not alone in my respect for the journaling process. The
author, Sara Ban Breathnach, asks her readers to keep a
gratitude journal. She says, "Write ten things every day that
you are grateful for." In a fabulous book called, "Writing the
Mind Alive", authors Linda Trichter Metcalf, PH.D. and Tobin
Simon, PH. D. encourage their readers to sit at a table with no
distractions, play Baroque music, light a candle and write on
unlined paper for twenty-five minutes whatever comes to mind.
Weight Watchers also asks participants to journal.
Is it just a coincidence that these successful agents of change
all use a journal? Is there a pattern?