Thinking and Journaling

OUR THOUGHTS ARE THE MOST POWERFUL TOOL WE HAVE AND ARE THE MOST NEGLECTED

Our lives are so full, so busy, we barely have time to breathe, let alone think. Who has time to think something all the way through? Isn't this where most of our challenges start is in our thought life or the lack thereof?

Our thoughts are the most powerful tool we have in our arsenal for this thing called daily look vintage life. Our thoughts are the very thing that can make us or break us. They are what can help us life a thoroughly enjoyed and blessed life--or a tormented one. And it is our thought life we tend to take for granted the most.

We neglect our thought life, after all. We might become obsessed with a particular thought or line of thinking that we forsake all others. Or, we fail to think at all, never mind think something all the way through.

Our thoughts can stress us out or uplift us. They can strengthen us or weaken us. Our thoughts can help us live the best life possible, or the worst. If we want world peace, it begins in our thoughts and nowhere else.

Want to change the world, change your thoughts. Want to live the best life possible, change your thoughts. Want to distress, change your thoughts. Want to properly grieve, think. Want to make the best decision, think it all the way through from every angle.

Our thoughts are the most powerful tools we have to live, but are the very things we neglect the most and take for granted the most.

THINKING INTENTIONALLY

Since our thoughts are so powerful, we need to control them, rather than allow our thoughts to control us or allow our thoughts to act like popcorn popping in our head. We need to think intentionally and on purpose. However, we need to do more than just that. We need to think things through all the way through to the conclusion and then keep thinking it to remind us of the conclusion and what we are supposed to do because of the conclusion. This is how we live the most blessed, purposeful, content, and productive life possible.

Journaling helps us do this and more.

JOURNALING AND A THINKING LIFE

Thinking something all the way through and to completion, by arriving at a conclusion and a plan for action or inaction, is what separates us from an insect or an animal.

However, how often do we really do that? How often do we control our thoughts, rather than allow them to control us, think through all of the angles, think it all the way through to completion, and arrive at a conclusion we can then put into action or inaction--and keep bringing it to remembrance so we stay on track? How often?

Not very often.

As a matter of fact, our thoughts normally go in one of two ways: We obsess about the unimportant--or our thoughts are like popcorn popping, bouncing in every direction but do not lead to anything fulfilling and often lead us astray.

If we were to think a great deal more, we would not say or do something stupid, and we sure wouldn't reach false conclusions and act on them.

And, how often do we allow someone else to do the thinking for us?

Then, there are times we are lazy in our thinking and don't want to bother with it or just don't care.

None of that is good or helpful, and sure isn't productive and often leads to poor outcomes and mistakes.

Journaling helps us to think.

And not only that, journaling helps us to really think.

And journaling helps ensure we think correctly and think things all the way through.

THE BEST LIFE WE CAN LIVE IS A THINKING LIFE

For all of the previous reasons, journaling helps us live the best life possible: a thinking life in which we make sure to take nothing for granted and count our blessings, as we think something all the way through from every angle until we reach a conclusion or action or inaction.

Thinking makes us live deliberately and journaling forces us to deliberately think.

HOW TO THINK IN OUR JOURNALING: A JOURNALING EXERCISE OR PROMPT

The best help our journaling offers us in living a thinking life is we can write all of our thoughts in our journals, to let some go and to realize we need to think some other thoughts through. It's important for us to do this every day and first thing  in our journals. We need to sort through our thoughts from the previous day, from the night, and what popped into our minds when we woke up this morning. But, get them down on the page in case later you realize there was a reason why you thought of it.

What thoughts are obsessive thoughts that keep coming to mind for some reason? Are they thoughts we need to work through, are silly and nonsensical and need to let go, or a combination of each? Then, do it in your journal: think it through or let it go. But, get them down on the page in case later you realize there was a reason why you thought of it.

Our thoughts can also be our to do list kind of thoughts. Get them down in your journal so you can think of something more productive. But, get them down on the page in case later you realize there was a reason why you thought of it.

If you think of any memories, capture them on the page. Is there something you feel compelled to think about and think through? Then, do so in your journal. Also, something to keep in mind is how you need to get them down on the page in case later you realize there was a reason why you thought of it.

Our thoughts can appear random and not make sense at the time, let me repeat, but get them down on the page in case later you realize there was a reason why you thought of it.
Every day, journal and think about the following:

So, go for it, write all your obsessive and popcorn thoughts down on the page, along with the things you were already thinking through in order to reach a conclusion.

What thoughts do you need to let go and move on?

What thoughts do you need to think all the way through, from all angles, to a conclusion and then act on the conclusion or do not act on the conclusion?