When my grandfather was ill and in the hospital in his last month of life, I used to communicate with him by writing. I came across that small conversation paper the other day and it filled my heart with immense joy. I thanked God that I had preserved it and I thanked God that it reached me that day coincidently. It lifted me up, on that gloomy day. I took out all the letters and notes he had written to me over the years which are still treasured. They brought back a stream of happy memories and flooded my system with positivity.
This one aspect of preserving memories on paper works exceptionally well, to infuse inspiration and hope, to relive all amazing experiences of our life. Thus, such emphasis is given to maintaining a daily diary. Personally, writing works best when I want to organize my thinking. Keeping a journal of what is going on in our life is a good way to help us distill what is important and discard what is not.
Journaling or daily diary writing for reflection carries a lot of benefits for our physical, mental and emotional health. Let us look at 7 ways in which Journaling may help us.
- Journaling promotes mindfulness and self-awareness:
It encourages us to focus on our present thoughts and feelings. We get inspired to change what is needed and leverage our strengths for growth. Which in turn promotes happiness and a sense of wellbeing.
- Journaling improves immunity and thus physical health:
Science says that regular journaling strengthens immune cells called T-lymphocytes.
- Journaling elevates our sense of optimism:
Regular gratitude journaling has been shown to promote buoyancy, enthusiasm and positive energy. We get to focus on our blessings.
- Journaling helps us release negative emotions and thus reduce stress:
Reflective writing gives us a chance to express and process events and situations. We can pen down all that is bothering us, which in turn reduces intensity of the negative emotions. It can thus help us get new perspectives and solutions for tricky situations.
- Journaling organizes our thinking and improves our problem-solving abilities:
Writing helps us understand complex issues, see patterns and gives us a chance to reflect on solutions.
- Journaling improves memory:
When we write about new understandings and learnings, they are more likely to stick to us for the future referral.
- Journal is our autobiography:
By writing down our life events and experiences, our thoughts and feelings, we have a compact compilation of our life on the whole. We can look back and relive all the exciting and amazing events and learn from difficult and tough situations.
A study has revealed that writing for just 15 to 20 minutes each day, for 3 to 5 days over 4 months, was able to boost physical and mental wellbeing. So, isn’t it a nice idea to grab a lovely diary or a journal and devote just a few minutes before bedtime to write down our thoughts, which would help us to unwind and relax?
I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear. My courage is reborn.
Anne Frank