Every single day, we are constantly flooded with information and emotions brought up by everything we experience. These feelings can be both positive and negative, and it is important that we process all of them in a healthy way. Focusing on positives while working through negatives properly is an important part of self-care. One great way to accomplish this is through journaling! Read on to find out how journaling counts as self-care…
You Can Be Honest
Journaling affords you the opportunity to be completely raw and honest with yourself. You don’t have to worry about what someone might think if you express certain emotions honestly, and you can feel safe. The journaling also lets you practice self-awareness… Much like how saying something out loud can help you hear how ridiculous it sounds—journaling can help you SEE if you are overreacting to something innocuous.
It Can Help You Remember What To Be Grateful For
A great way to shift focus off of your negative feelings is to make a list of things that you are thankful for, or that made you happy each day. This can be ANYTHING from the perfect cup of coffee, to getting a hug from a loved one. Just write down everything that had a positive impact on your day. This is a great way to end your journaling sessions on a high note, and put you in a happier and more relaxed mindset.
It Gives You Quiet Time
Taking the time to journal your feelings each day gives you a scheduled quiet time with yourself and your feelings. You can sit quietly with your emotions, and figure out WHY certain things make you feel negatively. You can take the time to work through your triggers, and not allow pain from your past to control your future.
Helps You Keep Track Of Repeated Issues
By making a point of journaling your feelings and experiences each day, you will be able to get a fix on things that keep happening that affect you negatively. This will give you the opportunity to avoid these situations, and/or figure out how to fix them. As you weed out these issues, you will be able to more confidently navigate your day-to-day life.
Sometimes it would be nice to really tell someone that has been hurting you what you think of them, and hurt them back. However, this can lead to a lot of other bad situations; and can often be counter-productive to trying to live a more healthy and peaceful life. This is where journaling can come in very handy… Instead of verbally lashing out at the person or people, write down what you wish you could say to them. No consequences, just you and your journal. If you can/want, you can also even read it out loud as if they were there. The important thing here is that you’ve gotten that negativity out of your system so it doesn’t fester and explode. Once you’ve written it all out and possibly read it out alone, tear that page out of your journal and dispose of it.
