Journaling For Happiness And Spiritual Well-Being
The average American spends upwards of 3 hours a day on their phone, Blackberry, or tablet, checking e-mail, facebooking and browsing the web. This leaves only 7 hours per day to be with ourselves and experience our own thoughts. Yet we are so busy getting "things done" that we often neglect to make time for the single most important thing we can do for ourselves: Journaling.
This post will walk you through the basics of journaling for happiness and spiritual well-being; why it's beneficial; how to get started; what tools you need; and how it can positively affect other areas in your life.
What is journaling?
"Journaling" is simply a way of capturing your unique thoughts, feelings and experiences to use as a reference point in the future. For example, when we make a decision or experience something new or different, we must refer back to what happened for insight. If we forget about it, then it's considered lost (that is unless we write it down!). But if we write it down and refer back to the original source of knowledge (our thoughts), then we have recorded the information for future reference. This is what journaling is about: To make certain that the important things in life are recorded, both for our good and for posterity's sake. This information can then be used as a template, and guide us on to new and better decisions.
Who should journal?
Anyone can journal. It's really a personal choice of whether you want to do it or not (and why not if it makes you happier!). But journaling has other benefits that are worth considering if you're in the habit of doing so already. For example, studies have shown that people who write down their thoughts live longer than those who don't (source).
Perhaps the most important reason to journal is that it brings happiness, purpose and meaning to your life. Think about it: If you don't record the good things in life, then you can't benefit from them in the future! When something happens (like a major positive event), it's easy to forget that this happened. But if you wrote about how good you felt when this happened (perhaps even shared your thoughts with friends at the time) then you'll be able to access that source of happiness later on. The same goes for negative emotions and experiences. If you don't write it down, then you'll never have the chance to experience that pain again.
This is what I do, and I found it to bring me immense peace of mind and purpose. My journals are my best friends. I refer back to them all the time when I have a bad day, a difficult decision to make or when I need quick inspiration on where to go next in life. And they often inspire other people's happiness too!
How should journaling be done?
The most important thing about journaling is being honest and truthful in what you write. For example: "I feel sad today because Mary said she didn't want to see me anymore. I really liked her" is much better than "I'm feeling fine today. Mary doesn't matter." I can tell you right now that the second one isn't going to lead to happiness, and that the first one will lead to a sense of accomplishment and purpose.
If you keep trying to journal but you find it hard, then there's a trick for you: Keep asking yourself questions like: "What do I feel?" or "What was that like?" And answer honestly! This method is great because by taking your thoughts from your head into writing, you literally externalize them into the world around you . . . and this brings peace of mind.
How to begin journaling
There are a number of different ways you can begin though. The most important thing is to be honest . . . your thoughts are the only things that matter, so don't worry about what other people think or how your parents would react if they saw it! If you're unhappy with a particular issue (like negative thoughts), then talk it out with a friend or loved one, and get their honest opinion. After you've done this and moved on, then write it down.
Another great way to begin is by writing down 3 things that happened in the past week that made you happy. When journaling this way, I like to call these "My Happy Things. When I was young, I often didn't remember these things and felt unhappy. But as I got older, they became more important to me. Now they're a major part of my life and happiness . . . and writing them down is what made it happen!
Finally, you can always just try writing down some of your thoughts from the day like "what am I thinking about right now?" and "what did I eat for lunch?" These small, every day things are actually very important in the long run because it documents our days for us to refer back to later on.
Don't judge yourself too hard if you don't do it at first . . . just try to make it a goal and write down what you do so that you can refer back to later on. When you stop journaling for a while, then try again and see if this time works better.
Which tools should I use to journal?
Your choice of tools will depend on the way that you want to journal. There are quite a few different types available, so I'll list them briefly here:
A regular pen and paper – This is the most basic method, and not very exciting, but it's easy to find in any office or telephone store.
A laptop, tablet or computer – This is faster and easier to write on than pen and paper. Most of us will have access to this.
A smart phone – These are very powerful tools for writing as well, since you'll be able to record both pictures and video as well. Plus they can send the message directly to your journal without the need for extra steps. If you use a smart phone, I recommend using an app like " Evernote " or " Simple Note ."
How should I organize my thoughts?
This will depend entirely on your personal preference and the type of writing that you prefer. The easiest way however is probably by date order; i.e. "New Year's resolution" would be the first thought to write and then the next, and so on. This isn't a rule, but it's common to set aside a page or two of blank paper at the start. If you don't want to do this then you could simply make new pages each time you want to write something different.
What should I include in my journal?
You know better than anybody else what your writing is about.
Conclusion:
I can't stress enough how important this is. The only things that matter are your thoughts, and if you don't write them down then you will never be able to benefit from them again. For example, when I was younger I often experienced loneliness and depression (in fact, it almost killed me). When I look back now, I find that I wrote about it very little (if at all) because of the way my mind was working at the time. But once I started writing about these issues again, it not only brought them to a close but also helped me restore my sense of purpose and meaning in life.