"As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I now admit I had a childhood! The most amazing thing is how I have been living my life over and over again as the scared, shy child I was 50 some years ago. I now see that who I am today cannot be blamed on mommy, daddy, the St. Bernard School nuns, or the crotchety neighbor across the street. I am responsible for who I am, what I say and what I think. If I am not happy with my life then I can do something about it. That’s why Journals were created: to help clear out the clutter we’ve accumulated and get into living life from who we really are using all the gifts we brought into this life with us.
Before I started journaling I survived in an abusive self-relationship. My inner life was a rainy rush hour hundred car pileup. And that was on a good day. I treated myself dreadfully. As the authors of "The Mindful Way Through Depression" informed me I employed an ongoing “rumination” process of self-blame, criticism and worse. Changing my word choices like “Why do I always do that…to “Hmmm, I wonder what’s really going with me here?” make me feel healthier. Lots and lots of journaling later, I enjoy approaching inner peace. My inner chatterboxes are quieter, and well into my process of elimination.
According to Wikipedia: Journaling is the oldest and most widely practiced form of self-help through writing is that of keeping a personal journal in which the writer records their most meaningful thoughts and feelings. One individual benefit is that the act of writing puts a powerful brake on the torment of endlessly repeating troubled thoughts to which everyone is prone. Quite what happens when near-obsessive ruminations, which frequently take place in the small hours of the night, are committed to paper is difficult to describe. It does feel as if the trap door of a mental treadmill has been opened to allow persecutory thoughts to escape. Though the accompanying feelings may persist for a time, the thoughts begin to integrate or dissipate or reach some constructive resolution.
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