I share with you CM Smith’s Blog from a while back. I’m into year four of Journaling every day. I did miss a couple of days two years ago when I had Heart Bypass surgery, but I went back into the book once I got home and captured what I could remember about, the experience in the Hospital.
People have asked me, just what do you write about? Much like my Blog, a little of this, that, and other things, no general theme. I mostly catch up on the previous day by journaling first thing in the morning, I did that before turning on the computer this morning. We had a massive lightning show last night from 5:00 – 10:30 when the eyes shut, I had to write a few words about that. I did peek at the phone to learn my wife and daughter were safely at the airport in Dusseldorf. I’ll be picking them up later on in the afternoon in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, PA, on their return home from a ten day trip to Germany.
All my Journals have pockets in the back. I’ll keep things like business cards, event tickets, significant receipts, mostly eating establishments, (something to blog about). I’ll usually have one or two of my son-in-law Jeff’s itineraries, he works for the State Department and litterlly travels around the globe. I Blog about him from time to time.
My Life
Looking back on my life, I wish I had started blogging from the day I graduated from Boot Camp at Parris Island, SC in October of 1962. I say after graduation, because they never would have allowed anyone to do such a thing during recruit training, There are some great YouTube video’s on the subject of the Marine Corps boot camp should you be interested. I can always watch one of those to capture that part of my life, should I wish to relive the experience.
Today I start a new Journaling book, and I give you, via CM Smith’s view, his take on it making you feel better. I especially like #3, for I consider mine well worth having been lived. I have three children, nine grands, four greats, one present and one former son-in-law, and my favorite daughter-in-law. Yes, even my X son-in-law had some, Life for the Better, characteristics. He also fathered three wonderful grandchildren.
A new edition is started.
So, read on, perhaps one day you will take up the old analog process of putting words to paper.
Remember my Mantra, “If It’s Not Written Down, It Never Happened”.
6 Unexpected Ways Journaling Will Change Your Life For the Better
I have been writing something about myself or my everyday for almost 2 years now. It has been one of greatest and most freeing experiences in my life because I can actually slow myself down to think about what’s truly happening around me as well as my part in it.
Most people treat journaling as something they “know they should do” but rarely ever take up the practice and if they do, they fall off the wagon within a few months. But, it doesn’t have to be this way, especially when you learn about the amazing benefits of journaling.
Here are 6 ways that journaling will change your life.
1. Dig into your true feeling
Journaling can help you get out of the way of what you truly feel on the inside. In other words, taken the time to sit and write about something that is affecting you can lead to a deeper and more realistic view of what feelings you are actually feeling.
When we are caught up in the “rat-race” of life, we tend to disregard our feelings and keep ourselves, busy and jaded. It isn’t until we slow down for some time to let the feelings inside be what they truly are.
2. Give you a point of view
Another thing that journaling can give us is a better understanding of our own point of view as well as what others may think of a situation.
It’s always thought to know exactly what others are thinking, but journaling can allow us to slow down enough to start to try to understand someone else’s point of view.
3. Remind you of a life worth living
I like to think of journaling as “my life’s story”. That alone makes it fun, enjoyable, and inspiring to write a little about myself and what is going on with me every single day.
After you have journaled continuously for sometime and you look back on the things that you have written you may realize that your life is much more interesting and deep than you once thought.
In fact, if you are down on yourself a lot, journaling is a great way to get around this and discover that your life is truly worth living.
4. Reassure yourself who you are
Do you know yourself? Without thinking too hard about it, you may just simply say, “of course I do,” yet if you haven’t done some serious introspection and work on who you are, chances are you may only know who you think you are.
This was definitely the case for me before I started writing for myself every single day. I thought that I knew what I liked and disliked, who I was, and where I was going in life.
But in reality I these aspects of myself were what I thought I should be; not actually who I was.
With journaling, I uncovered dreams and goals that I never imagine would be mine. I realized that there were so many things that I just couldn’t stand to do and therefore gave myself boundaries to say “no” more.
Journaling can do this for you too. You can finally say hello to yourself.
5. Help you record your legendary stories
The idea of being able to write for your life and then pass that writing onto someone else, whether it be old friends, children, grandchildren, etc. is inspiring.
I could only wish that my father or grandfather would have been able to pass on something like that to me. It wouldn’t have mattered if the words they wrote were deep or insightful; just as long as they were words that I could read and feel more connected to them.
You can journal every day and then pass this legacy on to loved ones later in life. They can learn about you and what made you tick as a human.
6. Build your serenity
Getting back to number one; when you start to write about your feelings and how situations in your life change your feelings you gain the ability to start to process those feelings.
Rather than leaving feelings completely bottled up inside, you can put them down on paper and get them out of your heart and mind so you can process and understand them more which will lead to a more serene existence.
This especially works well with feelings like anger, jealousy, resentment, etc. Putting these feeling out on paper and letting them take their course is a great way to stay balanced.
The simple act of writing a few words, sentences, or paragraphs everyday can have a profound and instant effect on your life for the better.
Journaling can change your life and make you more interested and interesting through the years.
Don’t forget to check on the elderly.
As The Rooster Crows 
That’s great that you are in the habit of writing in your journal Happy new journal!
Journaling is healing. It frees the mind from all the thoughts. It makes sense of all that thinking. It puts into perspective that which cant by thinking about it.
I love journaling. Though i dont always get to it everyday as i wpuld like too. And thats when i notice life seems a bit out of line.
Nice share.
JUST A QUICK ? WHO WAS YOUR BOOT OFFICER AT PARIS DO U REMEMBER?
DI, Staff Sgt. Finch & Cpl. HHR Mitchell