What I like about the quote above, is that it says a "deliberate conversation with yourself". We all have inner dialogue going on all day long. They say it's about 60,000 thoughts a day... A DAY! For people who have anxiety and other mental health challenges those thoughts are often not very positive. In fact they end up becoming quite negative. Negative bullets of guilt, shame, predicting the future, re-visiting the past, "what if's", judgments and critical crap coming at you around 40 thoughts per minute. How exhausting!
Journaling is a free, non-medication, life changing treatment for anxiety. Journaling for me is like being the warden of my thoughts. When I sit and think before I write, I realize how much nonsensical crap is floating around up there with no where to go. The worst part, is it feels like it's so automatic that I can't seem to control it, BUT that is a feeling and not a fact.
The more and more I started and continue to journal the more I'd catch myself doing day to day activities or facing daily challenges and realize how shitty I'm treating myself! Then I catch it, check it and challenge it. Am I really a BAD mom because I'm feeding my kids at 7:45 instead of 5:30 for once? Am I really going to DIE from these heart palpitations? Am I really NEVER going to feel like I am a positive functioning part of this society we live in? BAD, DIE, NEVER.
Chances are if you have anxiety, panic, or depression, your internal conversations go something like that as well. This is where consistently journaling comes in handy to help fight these internal bullies. What I have been doing recently is dividing my page into two columns. "Thought/Problem" and "Reality/Solution". Time and time again I find that my solutions and realities I come up with are so large and powerful that IF I were to implement them all, they'd put that piece of shit problem back where it belongs. Then comes the accountability. No one is going to jump in my brain and say, "Ehmm, excuse me girl!? What the hell were you just thinking? Yeah that's what I thought! Now Stop That!" Nope, it's not going to happen. It's me and only me up there.
Time and time again journaling proves to be therapeutic for many who give it a shot. Some may feel reluctant to try because of the symbolism we put behind the word "Journal". Writing in a journal doesn't mean you have a Hello Kitty mini Diary with a little lock and key on it. Getting away from the "Dear Diary" image is imperative to starting the process of writing down your thoughts.
Journaling Helps You:
- Make better choices
- Get to know your thought processes better
- Reduce Stress
- Help you understand your thoughts and feelings
- Clear the clutter in your brain
Once the thoughts and emotions our heads are released onto paper or the screen, we're able to see exactly how our thought processes are working. Is what we tell ourselves true? Writing in a journal provides a safe place to let everything out. No one to judge, criticize, analyze or offer advice.
Although getting into the habit of journaling frequently is a great idea, the consistency is not as important and having the knowledge that writing it out is always a place to go to. It's one of those tools that we all need to carry in our sanity satchel.
Some prefer pen to paper, but in this day and age there are plenty of completely private online journal sites that are free to use. You can access them from anywhere. Here are the links to a few of them. Otherwise there's always the good old notebook!
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