Journaling: Path to Self-Awareness

According to WebMD’s article “Mental Health Benefits of Journaling,” journaling is the act of keeping a record of your thoughts, feelings, insights, and more. Journaling can help us become more self-aware. Writing down our daily events, how we feel about them, and how we respond to them helps us see patterns of behavior that guide us to make lifelong changes.

Along life’s way, we meet challenges and obstacles that, if they go unchecked, will continue to come up in other situations and areas of our lives. What we resist persists. To deal with the problem effectively, we must acknowledge the situation, our feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and the physiological effects that result from it. This can help us understand why we do the things we do. Identifying and avoiding problem behaviors through coping strategies is one positive outcome of journaling life’s struggles. It can also help us put our ideas and thoughts into words in a way that brings resolution to situations. When we have time to think, process, and use our brain’s executive functions, we communicate better and come up with better solutions to problems.

Another way journaling can bring healing to our lives is through gratitude. Robert Murray, an author and executive strategist, has a gratitude journaling activity that challenges us to write down three things, three people, and three achievements we are grateful for once a day. When we take the time to appreciate the good and lovely things in our lives, we see them more often. When we force ourselves to acknowledge our achievements, we become self-aware. If it’s hard for you to take compliments from others, you could benefit from this exercise. We often downplay our achievements and have no idea what we are good at or what truly brings us joy. Take the time to celebrate yourself, what characteristics make you who you are, who brings you joy, and what brings you joy.

There are different types of journals. Here are some I am familiar with: prayer journals, which help focus the mind and concentrate on the things, people, etc., you want to pray for; goal journals, which help the user think about the future and set goals to get closer to what they are dreaming of; and travel journals, which help you keep track of the journeys, vacations, and places you have visited and what you liked and didn’t like about each one.

Journaling can help us slow down and take a few minutes to get in touch with ourselves. It helps us solve problems, be grateful, and record precious memories. As Nataly Goldberg once said, “Whether you’re keeping a journal or writing as a meditation, it’s the same thing. What’s important is that you have a relationship with your mind.”