Why Journaling is More than Writing

Posted on June 4, 2012 by 4Seasons2013

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”(Luke 12:34).

Faced with a blank notebook page, many of us cringe, recalling our school years when we were required to write essays on subjects that held no relevance for our lives. When those essays were returned, some of us were even more disheartened when we saw the bloody marks of the teacher’s red pen. While writing is a pleasure for me, others would rather take a beating than be forced to ink their thoughts on paper again. Being required to fill a page with words can be frightening. However, it can also be enlightening when it is a choice.     Why write?

 

 

  • Journaling is more than writing. Keeping a journal helps us to capture memories. Even the best photographs can’t tell the whole story. Journals become keepers of our memories, not just the facts with descriptions of events, but the emotions related to that particular time in life.
  • Journaling is more than writing. Keeping a journal can help us achieve goals. Writing can help us to define and plan the steps we must take to accomplish our dreams. It can also help us to discover our passion or even a new direction in life.
  • Journaling is more than writing. Keeping a journal can harness our creativity. Even if you’re not a writer, being able to come up with creative ideas can help in other areas of life. For example, being creative applies to cooking a meal from scratch, making a discovery in science or medicine, finding a way to cut costs or developing a solution to a business problem.
  • Journaling is more than writing. Keeping a journal can help bring clarity by identifying where you’ve been, where you’re at and where you want to be in life. This is more than just setting goals. It is reflecting on the past ~ not dwelling on it ~ but examining your past for clarity. Reviewing past journal entries can help you to identify patterns in your behavior, life choices and attitudes. Once identified, you can consciously decide to make the necessary changes.
  • Journaling is more than writing. Keeping a journal can help us to make sense of life. Have you ever been in the middle of a painful experience or watched as a loved one went through a particularly tough time? If we can capture our emotions at the time, it helps us to write through the pain and uncover the lesson.
  • Journaling is more than writing. Keeping a journal is good for your mental health. Are you angry with someone? Instead of getting in an altercation or letting the anger fester in your soul, use your journal to write a letter to the other person. Pour out your anger on the lined pages of your journal but don’t mail it. Instead, go back, reflect on your entry later, and reassess your emotions about the other person and the incident that led up to that point. Chances are your feelings have changed. If not, keep writing.
Posted in Journaling, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Staying Practical in an Impractical World

Posted on December 27, 2011 by 4Seasons2013

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”  Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

I am a practical mother and grandmother. Both of my sons and my five grandchildren receive clothes and books for birthdays and Christmas. I also buy one toy each for my grandchildren. Even the toys are practical. What do I mean by practical?

  • I buy toys requiring no batteries. Instead, I purchase products to stimulate their creativity, like Legos and Lincoln Logs. Other items that end up in my shopping basket include watercolor paints, boxes of crayons and pads of paper. I have discovered that when the batteries die, the new toy loses its appeal while a fed imagination keeps a child engaged.
  • I make memories with my grandchildren. With sidewalk chalk and a large jug of bubbles, you can entertain youngsters without breaking the bank. You don’t even need these if you use your ingenuity to create fun they will recall when they look back on their childhood. Two of my grandchildren were spending the day with me several years ago. I had made them lie down for a nap. As I worked at my computer, I heard a noise outside. Looking out my office window, I saw one of the city fire trucks arrive to drain a fire hydrant across the street. Of course, my grandchildren heard the noise too. Peeking out the bedroom window, they begged me to wade in the water gushing down the street. I relented and joined them. Holding hands, we walked barefooted through the flooded neighborhood. Grinning, my grandson said, “We’re making memories, aren’t we Nana?”
  • Another way we make memories is by serving others. When my two oldest grandchildren were ages two and four, we started a tradition that has continued for five years. We bake cookies together and then deliver them to a local nursing home where the two enjoy sharing the baked goods with the residents. It not only puts a smile on the recipients’ faces but my grandchildren leave knowing, even at their young age, that they have made a difference.

With a society focused on the impracticality of having it all, I have found a way to remain practical. In 1Timothy 6:5-7, Paul writes, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” I plan to leave my loved ones a treasure chest full of memories not gold.

What legacy will you leave?

Posted in Relationships | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment