What is journaling? It is a way to compose and collect your thoughts. Keeping a journal will absolutely change your life in ways you've never imagined. It is so important for each of us to take that inward journey and discover what attitudes and beliefs we hold within ourselves. There are so many reasons why people journal. People who journal do so for many different reasons. Writing down your thoughts, venting your emotions about a problem or situation in your life, or just recording scribbles, poetry, inspiring quotations, and dreams bring you closer to who you are. It is what is most important to you. Sometimes people leave a legacy for their children or by writing it helps them to heal from a divorce or an illness. It is a way to release emotions in a healthy way. You don't need to have a specific reason. A journal can be a companion, a best friend, a way to tap into your intuition, or a place to dump your emotions so they don't land on friends and loved ones. Writing a journal helps to clean out the junk in your head so you can focus on what is really important to you. Ultimately, writing in a journal is an act of self-love. Your journal is a safe place to get to know yourself and discover who you are. It can bring clarity in a confusing world that bombards us with messages and images of who we should be, what we should want. A journal allows us to paint a picture of what we want our lives to be and helps us love ourselves enough to create it. It is a way to talk to your soul. It may be a healing journey for you, as it has been for me. Remain open, and trust that you have all the answers you need inside you. Believe me, you do have those answers, and this journal will show you this much later.
Selecting a journal is the first step. It can be a fancy writing book or just a spiral notebook. Remember, it is a way to capture your thoughts. Many times when I visit someone who has a serious illness, or someone who is going through a difficult time in their life, I give them a journal that has a pretty cover and is medium size. I always try to encourage the person by telling them that being comfortable is what it is all about. Everyone's lifestyle and personality is different so it must feel right for them. I write in only one journal at a time, and I write about anything and everything. I have been to several workshops some participants write only their dreams in one journal while writing their deepest most private thoughts in another. It is your world you decide what is best for you, but remember writing and getting things out that bother you is a way to start healing. Some mothers who keep journals write letters to their children every year on their birthdays, keeping these books as future graduation or wedding gifts. I had another woman tell me that she keeps separate journals for each of her children, containing messages, advice, and stories about that child's life, she makes it a gift for later in their lives.
You can pick the time and the place to journal. I find that at the end of the day before going to bed works best for me. I can highlight the entire day and by capturing all the things that happened throughout the day and visualizing what I want to see happen tomorrow. I clean out my head at the end of the day that way when I start a new day tomorrow I have already taken care of my thoughts, cares, worries, and or problems of the day that just ended. Only you will know what feels right to you and what feels right today could shift as you change and grow. So stay flexible in your journaling practice and let it develop naturally.
Part of the fun is looking at the last few entries to see what was going through your mind during your last session. It is amazing how quickly we forget the details of our lives, how much we obsess over things that will be forgotten in moments. Think of your journal as a supportive, forgiving friend who is always there for you. Go to your journal for answers or when you need to confide in a friend. Your journal will listen to your problems and help you work them out. No judgment. No rules. Just write.
Hello, new day! What a great day to be alive! What a great day to share with others! I anticipate happy thoughts and happenings today.
Everyday, when I see the dawn’s light, I feel lucky. I know that today is a special gift, and it is up to me to Make Today Count!
Sometimes we only look for the big happenings and rewards in life, we miss out on all the little ones. We forget that the small things in life can be truly special. Happiness is not a matter of good fortune or worldly possessions. It is a mental attitude. It comes from appreciating what we have, instead of being miserable about what we don’t have. It’s so simple yet so hard for the human mind to comprehend.
Someone once asked, “Mary, what kind of small things make you happy?” This is what I shared with them? Happiness is much more than just a state of mind.
It can be family gatherings at home or far away. It might be someone getting married to someone you love. It might be hearing your child’s first words. It could be listening to the birds sing, or maybe just sitting and waiting for the sun to shine on a beautiful lake. I enjoy getting mail from an old friend who just writes. Hello, “I was thinking of you today.” Watching a child at play, brings back my years of yesterday. One of my favorite times is spent with my husband taking a short walk, holding hands and talking about our day.
Not everyone will share in the same kind of happiness or thoughts, but what makes you happy is all that really matters.
My influence, is that my life shall touch a dozen lives before the day is done, leaving countless marks of good, not ills, before the evenings setting sun.
This is the wish I hope and pray will be the ending to a perfect day; knowing I did some good and that I touched others hearts and lives along the way. Sharing my companionship through understanding, giving words of encouragement to those who fear, and teaching others that courage is some of the greatest treasures we learn to love and hold so dear.
Written by: Mary D. Johnson
My Special Grandparents
When I was small I enjoyed visiting my Grandparents best of all, t hey taught me things I will never forget and will always recall.
They gave me my own garden spot; I planted only what I liked to eat, keeping it weeded and watered made me feel big and unique.
Teaching me repeatedly how to iron pillow cases without a crease; then learning how to wash clothes with Grandma's old Maytag wringer washer, now that was a lot of work but a big treat.
Getting up at the crack of dawn to get the days baking done, we had to work fast to finish our baking because of the heat from the summer sun.
After lunch I'd go with Grandpa to work in the barn, handing him nails as he built new things for the animals on the farm. If Grandpa bent a nail or two he showed me how to straighten them and make them as good as new.
He built me a bird house I will never forget; for that next spring the birds came and made a nest in it. The eggs were laid, then hatched, the baby birds were feed, but then the birds were ready to fly, seemed like it was over all too fast.
Grandpa took me fishing when the days work was all done, the water calm and quite as we wait for the fish to bite our line hoping to catch a few fish before the setting sun.
We usually caught our limit, cleaning the fish was a mess, but when Grandma cooked the fish that's when they were the best. Thanks Lord for Grandparents.
Written by: Mary D. Johnson
