You Should Keep a Journal...

Hey Everyone,

Hope your week got off to a good start. I'm always talking to people about writing in a Journal and all the amazing benefits, I thought I'd share with you my top 12. If you know someone who is "stuck" or needs to find their "happy" again please share. :)

1. Personal development and Awareness : Writing in a journal can really help you grow as a person. How can you become a better person if you don't know who you are? how can you change if you don't love yourself? I believe keeping a journal can really open yourself up to you.
2. Remember: Sorry to break it to you guys but your memory is not a video recorder, in fact just a while after that amazing experience you will begin to loose little details and soon all you'll remember is how great you felt- which is OK but- Imagine being a able to go back and read it all, or share it with someone? While I was in Italy I wrote in my journal so much and I'm happy I did. I have about 3pages describing the flavor of a certain gelato- Yes that good.
3. Goal Setting: It is said that "A goal not written down is just a wish" Writing down your goal is actually proven to make you more likely to achieve them (sorry I can't pull up the study, what is this psych 191? :p). Anyways write your goals down, track them, plan! achieve! 
4. Perspective: Sometimes ( A lot of the time) We have to step back and evaluate a situation, unfortunately our heads will mix our evaluations with feelings and "butt-hurt-ness" and writing it out in your journal can help you see it from a different perspective maybe when the emotions are less intense. 
5. Safe Space: The world can be a harsh place, and sometimes even our friends and family "just don't get it" A journal can serve as that safe space to vent, to confess or just let it all out. Quiet time with yourself and even God too. Writing definitely soothes the soul.
6. Improve your relationship with yourself and others: For some people it's easy to describe feelings, or maybe we just learnt early on. Some feelings are also easier than others, for me when I feel undervalued it first looks like fear, but I try to take some time to Journal about it and understand it and if it involves another person, explain it them after.
7. Focus:I'm constantly day dreaming and usually have 101 fun ideas or things I want to do floating at the same time in my head. It can get pretty chaotic up here and hard to get a clear focus on a central idea, so I write it down. Sometimes if I can't put it into words I'll just doodle it- I love doodling!
8. Reflect and Measure progress: I love going back to read things I wrote, I can see distinct areas of growth and sometimes areas that may need some work still. It's amazing.
9. Gratitude Attitude: Nothing like being grateful to lift your spirits, some of my journal entries are just long "Thank you's. When I read some problems I wrote about previously I write again on how thankful I am they got resolved.
10. Problem solving: I love to make lists of pros and cons in my journal, also "the worst possible outcome" of taking certain decisions. When I write them down I can see how silly my fears are or If I really should hold back.
11. Peace: Sometimes even if there isn't an immediate solution to a problem, I write it in my journal and just let it go for that moment. I also forgive people a lot in my journal. And that overwhelming feeling of peace is just blissful.
12. Happiness: Since keeping a journal I've learnt so much about who I am and as a result I am happier. I know the things that bring me the most joy and I'm taking steps to pursue them. No matter what stage you are in life you can benefit from some more happiness :). Your well being will affect those around you for the better too!

Whoooosh I didn't intend for this post to be this long and if you stuck around to the end I hope you gained something. Of course you don't have to journal everyday, I haven't journalled in a while myself so this post is kind of a reminder to myself. I know people that use their phones to journal, have a private/public blog, (this blog is kinda my semi-journal lol) but I like paper and pen. Quiet time :)

Have a great day/ evening everyone!

Love always,
Sabirah.