My Trusty Journal

I haven't had the easiest few days of my life since about Thursday last week. A family member in hospital; waking up with a feeling of anger and irritation on Sunday; and a general feeling of being "down."

Yet, I have survived. I've kept going without too much trouble. And why? I keep coming back to it, but it's my journal.

Every morning, I write three pages; no compromise, no argument, three pages. Forcing yourself to write a set number of pages helps to focus the mind. And it takes a page or two to get your emotions to start clearing.

I started doing this about eleven months ago while I was reading a book about improving your creativity. The idea was that you could purge yourself of all your worries first thing in the morning. Then, you could get on with your day without too much else on your mind. It doesn't take the issues and problems away, but it does put them in perspective. Talking about things doesn't get them off your mind, but it does help you to cope with them. The trouble is, we live such busy lives, it's often difficult to find someone to talk to.

However, your journal is always available. And, it doesn't judge. It doesn't tell you what it thinks you should do. It doesn't even interfere and try to force you into its way of thinking. In effect, a journal provides the counselling that you would provide for others if they were to confide in you, if they came to you for counselling.

As for the idea of three pages, I had never thought about it until I read this book. You see, what can happen is that we are tempted to stop writing just as we're about to get to the crucial bit. We learn to avoid our issues by claiming not to have the time to linger on the page. But forcing ourselves to write three pages takes us past that.

Some days, the middle of page two feels like "the wall" that marathon runners face. That's when you know that you are about to give yourself a wonderful insight. You are about to tackle an issue that you have been avoiding or that will not go away. By the end pf page three, you feel such a relief that you can face life again.

I know it's kept me going over the last few days.