In 2015 I was officially diagnosed with something I had long suffered from. The big fancy medical term is “Generalized Anxiety Disorder.” I like to call it GAD and while I don’t get pumped about labels, making it official made me want to kick GAD’s butt. That’s when I started to sort out all this anxiety stuff and focus on being the best version of myself. So began a journey that has led me to here. I have ridiculous amounts to say about anxiety and my old buddy GAD but I will save that for future blog posts.
Today I thought it would be best to start with where I started…. With a journal. One of the first things my therapist said to me was, “Do you journal?” Ummmm, please, no, who has the time? What would I write? I know what I think. I THINK. ALL. THE. TIME. She looked at me like, REALLY?
“Fine! Challenge accepted!”
What the heck… what I have got to lose? So on March 11th 2015, I made my first entry. Three plus years later and I have not one but TWO. One is all my personal mindshare and the other is for capturing my visions for this blog. I carry it with me so I can make notes at any moment when inspiration hits me. I LOVE this journal because it’s messy, confusing, random, and unorganized.
SO. NOT. ME.
So you see……. There is so much freedom in something as simple as a journal!
The idea of keeping a journal felt out of my comfort zone at first. I turned out to be one of the best things I have ever done for myself. See, that’s the beauty of it. It’s all yours. Only yours. You own it. It’s a private escape. A judge free zone. Sometimes I write a couple times a day and sometimes I don’t touch it for a few weeks. It’s my journal, no one can tell me when to write!
What I realized over time is it’s a tool for me. It creates some order in my sometimes overwhelmed mind. A place to write something down where it will stay and not be forgotten. I started to read old passages…… Now that gets interesting. You see how the entries change over time and you realize things about yourself. A little healthy self-reflection… yikes! I found my entries were sometimes negative, and that’s ok. However, I decided I would make a point to include ONE thing I was grateful for in each entry. Boom! It was magical. I was finding more things to be grateful for and making more positive entries about my progress. Now, let’s keep it real….. I still have entries that are of the “venting” variety but my point is, I try and keep the balance and be self-aware.
The more positive your attitude, the more grateful you are, the easier it is to find the joy in each and every day.
Disclaimer: A journal does not cure anxiety. LOL. BUT…. It is one the many tools I use to manage it. So what’s my point? Get a journal and GIDDY UP! Give it a try. If you already do?
Well, please share your journal journey in the comments. I would love to hear them.
"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."
- Wayne Dyer
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