My reasons to Journal
One of the most essential tool that helps me grow as an individual is, Journaling. My reasons for journaling are:
1. It organizes my thoughts- Who am I? What are my goals? What are my areas of interests? What do I lack? What should I develop? Why I failed? and much more. Vague thinking results in vague actions. The more I questioned myself, the more I discovered myself. All of us have the same energy, time and earth, just that we are not focused on what we want. Journaling helps question myself to bring focus and makes me accountable to my own thoughts. This helps me take better decisions.
2. Fosters hope: One of my most difficult times were, 2 months of postpartum. I felt stuck, judged, doubted my abilities, I felt lost. I had no motivation to do, just anything. This directly reflected on my daughter’s health. That is when I noticed a thing, that’s missing in me, that made me love life. I had actually stopped organized thinking and reflecting. When I started to map out my dream life with my daughters, I started to have hope in life. It motivated me to think more. I imagined my daughters hugging each other while sleeping. Believe it or not that’s how they sleep every night. I imagined my elder one to be the second mother of the younger one. Now, she truly is her second mother. These thoughts gave me hope to take care of myself because I knew, all that my children need is a happy mom. When you feel lost, miserable, mistaken, hopeless or failed – start journaling , it fosters a lot of hope. A hope that you are totally hungry for. Because a hungry man finds the easiest way to food than the intelligent one. Stronger the hope, stronger the confidence. All that you need in life is confidence.
3. Journaling allows me to repeat and relive my favorite experiences. Reflecting and cherishing the pleasures in life, reminds, all that makes me love life are those simple things. Every time when I read on our days in Kerala, I get the same emotions as that very same day. I even get reminded of the smell of my birthing room. I even remember the tightness of my husband’s arms and exact feelings of happiness and confidence when I delivered Thanvi, on reading my words. These words make me relive my joyous moments. It’s more precious than a photograph.
4. Gratitude: These feelings help me count my blessings and be thankful for it. Being thankful and grateful, makes a person happy. Happy people are the ones who achieve; Happy people are the ones who make a happy family; Happy people are the ones who a make difference in others life; Happy people are the change makers, revolutionalist. Our happiness is in our thoughts and not with others. I write almost every day on my gratitude journal, on things I am grateful for, like I am grateful for the extraordinary family, I am grateful for speaking Tamil, I am grateful for having met beautiful people, I am grateful for Rukumani, I am grateful for my body, I am grateful for the safety pin that came in handy at the right moment. This gratitude attitude makes me feel content and not to take things and people for granted.
5. Emotionally balanced: A problem is a problem only at that moment. On recording my confusions, dilemma, anger, failure, frustrations and revisiting them a few days, few months or few years later, I get to understand. Those problems were the biggest help, an opportunity to learn. A great help to solve an other problem. This understanding has made me a stable person. It vested a lot of acceptance towards life. I have come to understand – ‘What ever happens, it happens for my ultimate good’ & ‘Only people who have faced the test of time, Evolve’.
6. Learning: I always write, question and then write again. I have come to understand many things better. Whenever I read a book or see a video or listen to a podcast, I pull out my journal to take notes. By doing this, the concept reaches in detail and stays forever and motivates to change. Whereas earlier, I would be pumped up only as long I read a book and was in need of constant external motivation.
7. Progress record: Journaling records daily progress towards my goal. This gives lot of self motivation and confidence to do more. Journaling helps to understand that Every day a miracle.
A page in my journal.