JOURNALING HINTS AND TIPS (12.28.2014):
JOURNALING BLOG POST FOR DECEMBER 28, 2014
JOURNALING BLOG POST FOR DECEMBER 28, 2014
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS BLOG POST
1 ME, MYSELF, AND I AND JOURNALING
2 JOURNALING IS A JOURNEY
3 WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT JOURNALING?
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1 ME, MYSELF, AND I AND JOURNALING
Written December 21, 2014, Sunday, 1203 p.m.
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THE GODS OF ME, MYSELF, AND I
We live in a me-centered, self-focused world. It's all about me is the theme of society.
How can "I" be happy? How can "I" succeed? How can "I" get ahead? How can I... fill in the blank..
It's all about me.
If you don't think I'm great, to h--- with ya!
If you don't put me first, then...
Our trinity is not Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Rather, it's me, myself, and I.
We have made ourselves gods.
If we are focused on self, we are not focused on anything or anyone else.
If we are thinking of self, we are not thinking of anything or anyone else.
We are, oh, so prideful.
Remember this: Pride ALWAYS, without fail, comes before a fall.
And, I hate to tell you this, but confidence is pride. Self-confidence means you are focused on self and if you are focused on self, you cannot be confident in anything or anyone else.
So, what does journaling have to do with the me, myself, and I trinity?
How can journaling help us to focus on the deeper?
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JOURNALING AND THE ME TRINITY
Journaling is what we should always, without fail, do FIRST and FOREMOST (of course, pray and reading your Bible are the absolute first, but then, we should do journal. I referred to what we should do first--after these musts).
We should journal everything out first. Capture 'it' on the page, whatever 'it' is.
Journaling through our emotions, through our irrational thoughts and fears/anxieties/stresses, and our to-dos are what we should. we should get it out. After all, when we do that, then we see things with the proper perspective.
If we capture EVERYTHING on the page, then we gain the proper perspective. Then, in turn, we will no longer put self as the center of life and living.
Journaling helps us see how there is far more to this life, to this world, than self and the me trinity.
Try focusing on self when you think of someone dying of cancer.
Try thinking of self when you know that another man has gone to war--for you so you don't have to. He has left his family for you. (Or she. It isn't always a he.)
Try thinking of self when you go to the hospital, a nursing home, or hospice.
Try thinking of self when you hear or read the news.
Journaling helps open us up to the bigger world and universe. There is so much more to this world than self.
And, how shallow am I if I ever think this for a second, let alone a minute or even a day?
Journaling helps us get "I' on the page and reminds us of perspective--how there is so much more.
Turn to your journal. Get 'it' out of the page so you can see beyond the here and now.
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A JOURNALING PROMPT
1 Journal your thoughts?
2 How do you feed the me trinity and god?
3 How will you use journaling to take you off that pedestal and live in reality--that there is far more to this life and world than self?
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2 JOURNALING IS A JOURNEY
Written December 21, 2014, Sunday, 101 p.m.
I don't know about you, but the thought of going on a journey is something I romanticize. It is something I seek eagerly. As a matter of fact, I love to read fantasy (and enjoy fantasy television shows and movies) because in every fantasy, there is a quest. (Oh, the thrill!)
A journey. A quest. For a treasure, to accomplish something, to go somewhere.
It's exciting and is dangerous.
Think "Harry Potter," "The Lord of the Rings," "Hunger Games," "Divergent," "The Chronicles of Narnia," "Once Upon a Time," "Grimm," and "Sleepy Hollow." These are all about a quest and a journey.
Imagine yourself going on a quest and journey. Picture it. The excitement. The adventure.
Journaling is a journey.
Journaling is a quest.
It's a journey, a quest, we take every day for the rest of our lives. Needless to say, it is endless and ongoing.
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A JOURNALING PROMPT
Journal your thoughts.
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3 WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT JOURNALING?
What is so great about journaling?
Doesn't it take a lot of work?
It's writing, right? How can writing ever be great?
Doesn't journaling take time?
So, seriously. What is so great about journaling?
Well, I am so glad you asked!
Journaling brings perspective. It brings a proper point-of-view. It makes you get a grip and see things in a more wholesome way and from a different-point of view. Keeping a journal forces you to deal with your excess baggage and lighten your load, needless to say. It might even make you "take out the trash" so to speak. Journaling makes sure your focus is on what matters, what is really important, and what lasts.
When you put your heart on paper and take the opportunity to re-evaluate some of the things that have happened, it can and does bring closure. Socrates once said something along the lines that an unexamined life isn't worth living. So, since our lives are so very precious and worth living, we honor the gift of life by the perspective and introspection journaling brings.
Journal keeping forces you to evaluate your life and make appropriate changes as needed. However, it also helps you grow deeper in faith, to dream big, and appreciate life. Journal keeping will also help you to live a healthier life. When you have the opportunity to look back at what you've put on paper during the ebb and flow of life, you'll see so clearly how you have grown and overcome through good times and rough ones, too.
Conversely, journaling also allows you to see those challenging areas that might need just a bit more work in your life. As you share your story in your journal, put that part of it down for a brief period of time and forget about it, then return to it a while later, and you'll quickly see the sunny spots as well as those areas which might still be overshadowed by the storm clouds which visit all of us from time to time.
There are two pivotal points about journaling, which I think are the most important:
First, journaling forces you to engage and to remember the present. You can't get by with being so busy you skip or forget the present. You also can't waste the present moment because you're recognizing the present. Remembering your present is the key to a full life. After all, this present moment is the only one you can control and this present moment is sacred. It is a gift.
Second, journaling teaches you how to leave your present behind. That's a play on words, by the way. I don't mean you walk away from this moment. Far from that! rather, journaling is the means by which you are able to leave your legacy.
Everyone has a story to tell. If you're living in the present and believe it's sacred, then you're living life in a deeper and more meaningful way. Therefore, your life is a Story with a capital 'S' and is made of several stories (smaller stories with a small 's'). You refuse to live a wasted, unevaluated life, so you have a Story and stories to tell.
To these ends, journaling is never a waste of time, unless you don't do it or don't understand it. Moreover, journaling is the most rewarding to those who put the most into it. Hence, remember, journaling is not something you can half-step. The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it.
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OTHER TYPES OR KINDS OF JOURNALING (JOURNALING HINTS AND TIPS 12.28.2014)
Written December 28, 2014, Sunday, 1003 a.m.
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ETC. ETC. ETC.
There are a few more types or kinds of journaling we haven't taken a look at yet and it's probably time to look at a few of them.
Later, we will look more deeply at each, but I have the feeling in introducing them, if they have appeal to you, you can figure out what it means to you and how you want to do it.
Otherwise, feel free to attach a comment to any blog post if you have any thoughts, questions, or suggestions about a specific form of journaling. Also, share what you do and what you've elarned. It would certainly be welcomed. You can also post this at Twitter.com under #RYPJournaling or send an email. (This goes with anything journaling related, by the way.)
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FAMILY TREE JOURNALING
This is discovering information about your family tree and doing your genealogy. It's discovering information about your family you never knew and/or want to remember, along with your thoughts and how, or if, it changes your perspective or way of life.
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HISTORY JOURNALING
This type or form of journaling is done when you learn something about history and want to journal about it, your thoughts, what it means to you and your life, how it changes the way you see things, etc.
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NEWS JOURNALING
This is journaling you do after you see, read, or hear a news story. You journal your thoughts, what it means to you and your life, how it changes the way you see things, etc.
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READING JOURNALING
This is the journaling you do when you read a book, article, blog post, etc. You journal your thoughts, what it means to you and your life, how it changes the way you see things, etc.
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TOPIC JOURNALING
Take any topic and journal your thoughts, what it means to you and your life, how it changes the way you see things, etc. You know of a few others: travel journaling, love or relationship journaling, journaling about being pregnant or having a baby, diet journaling, exercise journaling, etc.
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SCRAPBOOK JOURNALING VIA WORDS
Have you ever tried to build a scrapbook for someone in your life or for yourself--capturing a moment in time? This type of journaling is doing that, but is with using words to paint the picture.
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WHY DO ANY OF THESE OTHER TYPES OR KINDS OF JOURNALING
There are times we just need to switch it up with our journaling. These different types or kinds of journaling allows us this opportunity. Give it a try. You might say is spices up your journaling since variety is the spice of life.
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