Journaling - What Good is it?

[joann w.]

When i started journaling, i did not have a clue what to write, one day i pick up my pen and wrote what ever was in my head, even if it did not make sense. Whatever you are releasing through your writing, is a good thing. it less things in your head that can drive you crazy.The more you write, the more you can see into your mind, by what you are writing about. Somethings it does not seem like it helps you in anyway and other times you just and write and everything comes out at once.
Do not worry to much about what you write , just write and it will be OK. good luck grammar is not my strong point in my writing. so try to overlook it, while you read my message. thanks Joann w.

[joann w.]

The worry about writing in your journal about other people. i had a hard time, at first but it gets easier.After while jounaling, you might want to read what you have written from time to time, because with my writing, i found things that i wrote earlier in the week or month,i would be surprise I wrote this and never knew i was worry about.
I HIDE MY JOURNAL BETWEEN MY BOX SPRING AND MY MATTRESS, I HAVE THREE KIDS AND A HUSBAND AND THEY NEVER LOOK THERE . UNLESS THEY ARE MAKING MY BED, THAT WOULD BE A SURPRISE IN LIFE JOANN W.

[mtnbkr]

Lefty, journalling has helped me greatly identify the subconcious patterns that hold me in anxiety. I find that when I write how I feel, why I feel that way and what the truth is that after some weeks of writing daily for 10-15 minutes, patterns start to emerge. such as not trusting people, chronic negative thinking, letting how I feel determine how I feel and so on. journalling can be a very efffective tool for uncovering subconcious ingrained stuff that is not easy to discern in my normal everyday analysis of my life. For example: I find when I write for the 400th time (only a slight exaggeration) that I am tired and feel depressed it is time to look at why I have been writing this so often. mostly I find it is because I have excessive expectations for myself. the truth being that my self expecations have to be modified/lowered to reasonable expectations and I have to implement a workable plan to succeed to my expectations and have that sense of wellbeing that comes from accomplishing goals. That is just an example of how journalling helps me uncover a pattern or habit of self defeating thinking. Mostly I don't journal if things are going good, I will journal for as long as it takes if things are going bad to get to the real reason I am not doing good. Hope this helps.

[darmm55]

Joann W. I just ran up to Borders books and bought the book "what to say when you talk to yourself". (By Helmstetter) I only skimmed over it a little so far and it seems pretty good so far.. I have to go to work now. Thanks for the replies.

P.S. As I was driving to the store I thought about a lot of stuff I can write. I should use my portable tape recorder when I think of things to write and can't at the moment.. Gotta run, have a good night.

[joann w.]

darmm55, your welcome i am so happy that i could help you with your jounraling .good luck Joann w.

[Mary Wargo]

Journaling over time will get you to see your themes and patterns, and also shows you what your triggers are for anxiety attacks. Journaling not only negative thoughts but also positive thoughts and events will get you to see that all is not bad or negative and that there are many positive things that occur. It also becomes very useful when you are working on later sessions that are related to making changes. If you don't know what to change- how can you make needed changes? I know that one of the main reasons I had much success with this program was due to all the journaling I did. It provided much needed insight.

[Sparkus]

Sometimes you just gotta write stuff. I've journalled for the past 5 years and I can say that it helps me to let off steam with pen to paper. I try not to force myself to write just for the sake of writing. Sometimes I grab my notebook with no forethought and suddenly some things just come up. It is therapeutic to journal for me. It helps me to see what is most important in my life at the present time, to put things into perspective and to even just vent. My advice is to not force the process- if you need to break from it for awhile then you probably need to. Give yourself permission to not write if you don't feel you need to.

[joann w.]

journaling was one of my greatest tool, that i found to use with this program. i learned lot about myself positive and negative things, that i like or did not like about myself

I started jounraling for a way to release my negative thoughts, that were driving me nuts. No matter how hard i tried, they just would not leave me alone.

After 20 some yrs of listening to my thoughts, and them telling me that I was no good. I could never change anything about myself, because my thoughts were who I thought I was at that time.

Then i tried jounraling for the first time, and i did not have a clue what i was doing at first.I Thought that there was a right way to do jounraling, and i was convinced i was doing it wrong "like always."

One day i decide that i was not going to think, about, what i was going to write about that day. I sat in a comfortable chair, and closed my eyes and listen to my world and nature around.
Then i open my eyes and i open my notebook and wrote whatever wanted to me written that day. After awhile I was writing all the time, it felt good. I felt like i was talking to a good friend, and they never had a negative thing to say to me in return.

As i started writing in my journal there was so many negative thoughts that wanted to get out. Sometimes I would just write and write until there was nothing left to write that day, and that made me feel so much lighter and happier when i was done writing.

When my negative thoughts were getting fewer and fewer as i wrote. My jounraling took another turn into writing stories and i was in the stories, kind of.

Through my story writing my past was coming out, in story form. i learned things through my stories THAT WERE SCARY ABOUT MY CHILDHOOD AND OTHER THINGS HAPPENED TO ME IN THE PAST.Since i started writing stories about my past, i could then see them in my mind and to talk to people to help me understand things more.

One more thing about my writing: after while it kind of turn into a talking doc for me and it was helping me get better. Really can not explain it. I HOPE WHOEVER READ THIS, THAT MAYBE IT WILL HELP THEM IN SOMEWAY TO MAKE THEIR JOURNEY IN LIFE A LITTLE EASIER FOR THEM .

WRITING IS MY STRENGH AND MY WORDS ARE MY POWER TO CHANGE MY WORLD FOREVER.

"SORRY "FOR THE GRAMMAR MISTAKES, IT IS AREA THAT I AM NOT VERY GOOD IN. That is OK with me, because my writing is for me and it makes me happy when i write THANKS FOR LETTING ME SHARE WITH EVERYONE