A few years ago, friends of mine recommended journaling to me, but other than writing down some points I found in my Bible reading, I wasn’t about it — I didn’t really see the use.
Today, I’m going to take their role and highly recommend journaling, REAL JOURNALING. It helps to really organize your thoughts, and in our busy and ever-changing lives that’s something that can be so helpful.
I started journaling cute, fun, beautiful and deep thoughts, but more recently-ish, I’ve been trying to journal the real and raw thoughts too. The thoughts you wouldn’t talk about in casual conversation with other people. The thoughts you feel more cautious writing down like doubts and struggles.
I find that sometimes, not always but sometimes, until I write them out instead of keeping those thoughts bottled up in my head and heart, I fool even myself. Writing them out helps me be honest with MYSELF about where I am at. And really, can we truly grow until we know where we’re at?
The other day, as I journaled some of those raw thoughts, they became realizations of where I’m at and also realizations of God’s truths that combat some of those thoughts. I realized just how much it helps me, so I’ve been thinking about putting this out there ever since.
So friends, JOURNAL. Even if it’s a few scratchy notes or maybe it’s paragraphs, note what you’re thinking and feeling. Days or weeks or years from now see how far you’ve come because you acknowledged where you were in that moment, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Journaling: My Personal Growth Tool
