A journal is a succession of writings done by people in response to daily proceedings of life. It may contain a variety of events and reflections. I know a lot of you are probably wondering what the difference between a diary and a journal is. A diary can be described as a book that contains descriptions of events that happen in a day. A journal contains similar descriptions, but also contains one’s description of the event as well as the writer’s reflection towards it. The act of journaling is deeper than most forms of writing because it entails a reflection of one’s self. If you’ve never taken journaling serious, the benefits below will give you food for thought. Below are the amazing benefits of journaling.
Helps You Reflect on Your Life: There are 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week and 365 days in a year. Time moves like the twinkling of an eye. One can be so lost in daily activities and routines in the name of trying to earn a living. Journaling provides the opportunity for one to stop and reflect on everything in life and see how far we have come. Reflection helps bring out the innermost thoughts and helps you see if you are really on track with what you want in life.
Helps Inspire Gratitude: Sometimes our mind has ways of only showing us the wrong things we’ve done in life. Funny enough, journaling helps you to keep record of all activities; both good and bad. The act of keeping track of daily activities helps you to count your blessings one by one. It pays to be optimistic and appreciate how far you’ve come in life. A grateful heart attracts more grace and blessings on a daily basis.
Helps You Turn Dreams into Goals: Journaling is like writing an upgraded to-do list; it helps you write down your deepest thoughts, goals and desires. Thoughts are powerful when they are converted into written words; you write goals down and automatically create a time frame to achieve them. It makes you discover your inner-most dreams without thinking too hard. Journaling helps uncover dreams and converts them to goals beyond our imagination.
Helps You Understand Yourself More: Journaling helps you understand yourself more, you begin to discover your strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. When thoughts and past experiences are written down it helps you know how far you’ve come and what areas you need to improve on. It helps you to identify deep emotions such as anger, jealousy, hate etc. Journaling helps you create a balance in your life because it can be used as a tool to assess your self-development.
Creates a Channel to Pour Out Emotions: 65% of human communication is non-verbal and journaling falls under this65%. A lot of people are not all that expressive in terms of feelings. Journaling creates a channel for them to express their emotions without being judged by any one. The act of writing down your emotions can be extremely therapeutic.
Journaling Helps Reduce Stress: Journaling has its own health benefits, it helps reduce stress. Writing down all of your thoughts, emotions and goals on a page helps reduce the mental rowdiness in your head. It helps reduce your mental fatigue and reduce anxiety.
The simple act of writing down words in phrases, sentences or paragraphs on a daily basis can have a philosophical and instant effect on your life for the better. Journaling can change your life, make it more interesting and make it worth living.