Monday Meditations - Journal for Health

by Jon Belt

Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory." Dr. Seuss

If you are like me you love to collect journals with the hope of filling them up, and then months go by and nothing. I always have these grand ideas of "I'm going to journal today!" I get pumped and at night I write my thoughts - maybe even the next day I write something down and like any new skill, the excitement slowly fizzles and the journals start collecting dust. I have a nice collection of journals.

There are numerous amounts of health benefits to journaling, and here are some blog posts I have found to be helpful plus this helps me to justify having so many blank journals. 

https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-health-benefits-of-journaling/
https://penzu.com/journaling-benefits
https://confinedtosuccess.com/benefits-of-journaling-for-mental-health/

Last year I found a journal I can actually fill in. I fill in this journal every morning and most nights, but it's not the type of journaling you are thinking. It's called the Five-Minute Journal, it's a beautifully designed hard back journal that focuses on being grateful for the day. It's more or less fill in the blank, and its mission - to take five minutes to fill it out. It comes with a daily quote and a weekly challenge. I love it, and I will continue to fill it. So, that is where I started, and lately, I began having a 'Google Doc' practice. I made a 'Google Doc' and put the date, and then I googled two-minute timer, and I have two minutes to type my thoughts, feelings, or whatever is on my mind. At first, I began with one minute, but have gradually added more time. It's a practice I get excited for, and many of the health benefits are happening from it, such as: 

• solving problems
• stimulating ideas
• resolving feelings
• building self-esteem
• developing a positive daily practice

We can all do two minutes a day. 

Action Steps
Begin this week by just thinking about this positive practice

1. Get your favorite empty journal (if you need one I've got plenty) -OR- create a Google Doc and title it
2. Put the day's date
3. Find a timer and put it on one minute
4. Start writing - no judgments/critiques and no worries about spelling or punctuation, just write...
5. If you are having trouble - start writing or typing about how you have nothing to say
6. Sometimes I think of topics before I began to help the flow...

My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.” Ernest Hemingway