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As a little girl I always loved to read. So much so that my bookbag was laden with books everyday going to school. This frustrated my mother as she had to keep buying me bookbags during the school year because of the weight of the books. She would always say "You must think you're going to university with all these books on your back!" At that age I didn't even know what that meant. I would take books and hide behind my bed where I would tuck into a little corner near a door with a window so I could read.
It seemed that every little girl had a diary. But I didn't. I remember thinking that I didn't want anyone to read my thoughts. I'd just keep them in my head. That way nobody would ever know. I didn't want anyone in my house finding my dairy and reading it. I was extremely quiet, but my head was always filled with thoughts of what I wanted to be when I grew up and how much I knew I never wanted to grow up as an adult in my island. I wanted to get away. But I didn't dare write those thoughts anywhere. I was bullied a lot and thought about that a lot too. Many things I could have written but never did.
That all changed in college. Those were some hard days being an international student in a still brand new country. And at the same time trying to balance carrying my weight as the top player on the university's Tennis Team and having to perform so I could keep my scholarship and and the same time keep up my grades as a Biology and Chemistry major. Then this Christian walk thing. It was hard. All the pressures had me writing my thoughts down. Because I couldn't tell anybody how I truly felt. I was a LEADER. Even though I didn't want to be. I kept my thoughts to myself so I wouldn't be judged. So I journaled.
After college, I carried those journals around. But didn't write in them for years. Until things started going crazy during my marriage. By this time, I was a new mommy and the domestic abuse had started. I'd began to lose myself; depressed from knowing I was not living up to my potential as well as now dealing with low self-worth.
The real turning point for me came when two women of wisdom, on two different occasions, told me that I needed to start using a journal.
Everybody journals for different reasons. And most people are fearful about spilling their guts on paper. But for myself, years later I realized that this habit of journaling helped to not only save my life but helped me to rebrand my life. I'll share five of these ways with you in this blog post.
5 Ways Journaling Can Change Your Life
Emotional Release and Healing
There is an intimacy between your pen and your heart that cannot be duplicated. Journaling allows you to express every emotion. Whether you are happy, sad, angry, feeling love hate or unforgiveness, or going through depression. Raw emotion has its place in your journal. The spilling of these emotions in the sanctity of your journal will also help you to reflect and make better decisions after being able to reflect on what you've written.
Create Clarity
That connection between your heart, soul and your pen instinctively knows that path you need to take that will lead you to a fulfilled life. Writing consistently about your past experiences and where your life is taking you, allows you to see the bigger picture for your life. You eventually gain a better understanding of who you are as a person. You'll write truths about yourself, begin to better understand where those truths fit into your life, then you'll be able to stand on those truths. Being able to stand on these truths is the foundation for you to begin to rebuild and begin to live your best life. Clarity also helps you to solve probelms more effectively.
Helps You to Manifest Your Goals
The words that flow as you journal reminds you of your destiny purpose in spite of the setbacks. Your life goals now seem attainable because you now have more clarity to make a roadmap and better strategize on how to reach those goals. Having clarity brings more confidence and courage to reach for those life goals.
Records Life History
Writing about your daily life, and even going back into your past gives you a place to go back and reflect or helps you to recall moments in your life. Even those moments that you'd rather forget. This history that you wrote about may even one day be a topic in a legal battle. Journaling with your date included gives you a record that is also admissible in a court of law.
Invest Time in Self
When was the last time you invested time in yourself? Journaling gives you that much needed time away from everything and everybody and have a heart-to-heart meeting with yourself. This time allows you to tap into your inner being. This daily ritual allows you to release the clamor, and also helps get ready to face your day with more clarity and fortitude.
Journaling - not just words on a page, but your soul on a page. Spend some time with yourself and journal. Say the things that you don't want to say out loud. Your pen and your soul will say it for you. This is the beginning of the road to changing and rebranding your life.
If you're ready to get unstuck and start your journaling journey and with accountability partners, click here.
Darlene Higgs Hollis