Have you ever written a journal? Maybe you have heard about journaling and wondered why it’s so popular? Journaling has many benefits. Today, I’m going to share the top 7 benefits of journaling and why I love journaling.
I started journaling when I was a teenager. I kept a journal in my nightstand drawer and each night before bed I would write a few memories from each day. Over 30 years later, I still have those first journals I wrote.
Today, I still love to journal. I don’t write in my journal every day, but I try to write a few days a week or month. I like to journal about life events, special memories, historical events or just anything. Writing in a journal for me is like writing my story.
7 Benefits of Journaling
Journaling Relieves stress
We live in stressful times. For the last year, the pandemic has added even more stress and concern our lives. But journaling can help us relieve our stress, write our thoughts and sort through our feelings. In a journal, we often write our thoughts and feelings we might never say to another person which gives us a powerful release.
Journaling records memories
Another one of my favorite things to write in a journal is memories. I love writing down things that happened each day, important events (and my thoughts and reactions to them), funny things that happen or even a quote from my kids. So many things we consider little and ordinary today but are fun to remember years later.
Back in December when my son was trying to get his learner’s permit to drive, it actually took us 4 times before he got the permit. It’s a funny story about why we had to go to the DVM 4 times, and it’s was worth writing in a journal to remember when he is older. But if you don’t write these stories down when they happen, over the years you will forget the details.
An easy way to start journaling is to write one special memory a day. Start a one line a day journal.
Journaling let us write down new ideas
Do you ever have new ideas and inspiration and think I need to write this idea down? I’m always thinking. Journaling is a great way for me to keep track of my ideas, flesh out the details and act on these ideas when I have time.
Do you have an ideas journal?
Journaling allows us time for reflection
We all need to reflect on life and the things that are happening around us and in the world. Journaling is one way to reflect on our feelings. For example, during the Coronavirus outbreak, I have been writing in my journal thoughts and reflections about what is happening. I’m capturing how I feel and my thoughts each day. Someday, I’ll be able to re-read these journals again and remember my exact feelings during this time.
Reflecting on our life experiences gives us a better perspective on the present and the ability to honestly understand the past and how we felt at set moments in time.
Journaling helps us grow our faith
Bible journaling and writing about your faith will help grow and strengthen your faith. Writing a daily Bible verse or reflecting on your daily Bible reading will give you deeper insights into your Bible study time.
I love the Anchored in Hope Bible Study Journal or the Pray Without Ceasing Prayer Journal as journals to grow my faith.
Journaling gives you an opportunity for goal setting
Journaling is perfect for goal setting. You can write goals, you can break your goals down and create action plans with these goal-setting journals. You can also write about your successes and failures as you progress toward your goals.
You can also write about your dreams and aspirations. Over time, you may find your dreams start to become your goals. Finally, as you set goals, you can make them happen. This means you can make your dreams come true and track your progress in your journal.
As you look back through your journal, you will see many times when have succeeded and many times when things did not go as planned but you learned a valuable lesson and improved.
Journaling creates your life story
Finally, everything we journal creates a life story. Our life story. Our thoughts, our feelings, our reflections on life.
Years from now we can re-read our journals and remember and learn from our own experience and our family and friends will have a record of our thoughts and feelings.
Imagine one day your grandchild or great-grandchild reading your journals and hearing the story of your experience on an exact day in history and know what you valued and what was important in your life.
Journaling has many benefits from stress relief to goal setting to creating your life story.
If you haven’t started journaling, today is a great day to start.
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