Journaling Your Way To Happiness
Posted by Lisa van den Berg
Oprah has said it and so will I, keeping a daily journal is an
excellent way to help yourself to a generous dose of Happiness.
In studies conducted, it has been found that writing the events
of the day in a journal drastically increases your powers of
recall and memory. It also helps to unload all the baggage
youve collected during the day. It helps you to remember all
the blessings youve been sent and the new ways you learned to
overcome an obstacle. It allows you to see all the wonderful
things that happened today and reminds you to be grateful.
Congratulate yourself on all the good you did, the lessons you
learned and even just getting through the day to the best of
your ability.
Journaling helps you to go back through each event that happened
during the day and analyze your reaction to that event. This way
you can gain valuable information that slipped past in the rush.
You see interactions with others (good and bad) and can learn
from them. -Was reacting in that way the best way to handle the
situation? -If youd approached him from this angle, would a
better result have been achieved for all parties involved?
You reinforce your memory by reviewing the days happenings. -By
going over the days events your memory is forced to recall
details that you would otherwise have forgotten. This
re-enforces the path of your memory and youll find it easier to
recall specific events.
You also see the gifts you were given during the day -A smile
from a stranger or a compliment from the cute guy in the lift.
-That taxi pulling up just in time, when you knew you were going
to be late
You can keep a record of anything new that you learned. -This
helps to show you that you are, in fact, learning something new
every day, which gives your self-confidence a boost.
Its also good to look back over previous journals and see how
youve developed as a person and to reminisce. This way you can
see how all the hard work you put into improving your life, is
paying off.
Journaling allows you to write down what youre grateful for,
which gives you a profound sense of humility and gratitude in
amongst all the thoughts of lack.
Heres how I get the most benefit out of journaling:
I got myself a day per page journal and made a deal with
myself that I would write in it every night, before going to
sleep.
I write down everything that happened during the day.
The good and bad (be careful to use positive language and always
give a good side to a bad event). How you handled situations,
things you learned, people you met, gifts you received (a hug
from a friend or your daughter waving goodbye as you go to work)
Writing everything out helps clarify a situation, put things
into perspective, clears the negative and affirms the positive.
At the bottom of the page I summarize the new things Ive
learned and the things that happened today that Im grateful for.
Ive found this to be a wonderful way to remind myself of all
the good things that happen to me every day. In a world where we
habitually tend to think negatively, a journal can be our own
little ray of sunshine.
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