I found my old journal

in #chainbb-general7 years ago (edited)

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Have you ever wanted to journal? Have ever tried to kickstart the habit yet kept failing at making it a consistent thing you do? Well, if you are, I'm in the same boat as you but something happened this morning and I think something clicked...

Let me explain.

For over five years, I know that journaling would be incredibly beneficial to me. My mind race at a 100 miles per hour and the only way sometimes that I found to slow it down is to write and speak. This is the only way that I've found that I am able to organize and clarify my thinking.

Journaling (or keeping letters or diaries) is an ancient tradition, one that dates back to at least 10th century Japan. More and more we are discovering genuine health benefits to journaling such as:

  • Clarify your thoughts and feelings.
  • Solve problems more effectively
  • Resolve disagreements with others. (Writing about misunderstandings rather than stewing over them will help you to understand another’s point of view.)
  • Make sense of our own personal history

What Changed?

Well, I use to have so much difficulty writing about me and my day to day life that I mostly wrote notes and to do lists. But last year, I started a journal where I would mostly write about "how I feel" and "what's going on in my life". At the time it seemed inconsequential and boring.

3 Months after I started that journal...I lost it.

I was really sad that nobody could find it but then I moved on and didn't journal the same way...I just kept mostly writing about goals, to do and notes in my other journal.

But then, yesterday, the journal came back to me in the most unexpected way

As I was metaphorically "cleaning my room" this morning, I decided to crack it open and read what I wrote a year ago. Believe it or not, it was the first time I was reading about what I was doing and how I was feeling a year ago. I finally understood the value of a journal on an emotional level. A year ago, I was meeting the women I would spend the rest of my life with. A year ago, I had questions about life that I found answers to, a year ago...I was me in the process of becoming me today.

It's all nice to intellectually know something but it's usually not enough to move us or really making us understand at a deeper level what it means to journal.

My Message

Start journaling even if it's only a few lines a day. Write about your story. There is obvious value at doing that in the here and now but the value of doing this go way beyond that...it help us make sense of our own personal process and rediscovering where we came from.

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I thought you were going to show scans of hand writting! maybe some cool doodles?

Reminds me that I found all my old school journals from age six and up and i have crazy multi page doddles of whole space battles with xwing fighter and tie fighters and star destroyers just massive space battles from return of the jedi all over my journals! and CRAZY stories about a space corporation my friend miguel ruiz and I had called "Galactico" where we manufactured frozen paper foods called Monkey Nuggets and we usd the old Apple IIe computers (which were super old for the 1994 time period) to make fake contracts about owning all the shares of galactico and how the price of galactico stock wet ddown or how i tricked my friend into singing a document giving me full contrl of galactico and then i caught him forging his owndocument that just said "I Zachary WIllaims give full control of galactico to Miguel Ruiz" and we would print em on the old Apple IIe printers LOL


im a computer, im a computery guy!
everything made out of buttons and wires!

When i was trader, we used to journal all our trades - the reasons for putting them on and what the emotions were as we held the position. It definitely forced a clarity of thought that helped make us more profitable. Can see how it'd apply in general life as well.

I think you're on to something here @cryptoctopus. Journaling can open pathways to the unknown answers of questions we haven't even been faced with yet. For many of us where writing may not be a strong point, even jotting down one's goals and to-do's is a great start & can help move you along in a more positive overall light.

This is something I've been considering for a while, it's time to just start methinks :) Thanks for the shove in the right direction dude!

hey my pleasure! The self-authoring program of Jordan B Peterson has been amazing for that too.

OK, I'll go have a look and see what it's all about.

I love when I open my journal and find something relevant on nearly the same day, a year, two years, even 10 years ago. It is quite amazing ! I also like to integrate my dreams and photos into the experience as well, and always find interesting connections between them.

Wauw with all that Steem Power and the price going up, you will make a fortune on Steemit, soon :)

I would definitely do some journaling but maybe I'll create a different account for that haha XD I don't want anyone else I know to find out about my personal feelings 'cos I just want to keep those by myself and I'm shy hehehe.

Now that I think about it and Steemit, the benefits of journaling using Steemit will be much more with the reward system and other people you don't
personally know to give you advice.

Btw, I would also like to add that journaling improves our writing skills too :)

really good point

Btw, I would also like to add that journaling improves our writing skills too :)

As someone with English not his first, second, or even third (some would argue)... I find this extremely true!

It's so fun to think about grammar as you are journaling! (Just me, I suppose)

So true :) English is only my 3rd most used language. The first is our dialect. The second is our national language. Then English.

In my case, I'm quite used to thinking about my grammar because we were trained to do so during class.

I tried doing so a few months back. Failed miserably. But I'll try again :p

I get it brother. It's been a long struggle for me too, but the squeeze is worth the juice!

I hope so. Hopefully I don't give up this time :p

Interesting read!

Ew paper? Whats the point when you have steem? :D

I was me in the process of becoming me today.

How so true! This is exactly how I felt when I was journaling everyday! Now I don't do it because of the time constraint...

I do occasionally write that never goes public... and have found true joy in understanding life and the path I have chosen! :)

Lovely read! :)

Upvoted and followed you!

Thanks! Nice to know I'm not alone :-)