Journaling isn't for everyone. The thought of copying out a person's thoughts and experiences onto a blank sheet of paper, can make a person cringe.
If you're anything like me, though, journaling is a coping mechanism. It's a way to release pent up thoughts, emotions, and experiences in a healthy way. In fact, for many, writing these sorts of feelings out onto paper can help to organize thoughts and better understand what is being felt. A lot of times, it saves a person from unnecessary arguments and confrontations, because their paper and pen battle it out before the words ever leave their mouth.
Of course, there are a variety of journals. I, personally, have journals for everything you could possibly imagine; love journals, business journals, creative writing journals, emotion journals. I don't write in each of them every single day, of course, but if the need ever arises to write about something, I have a journal for it.
My favorite journaling mechanism is the act of adding a silver lining to your entry. I adopted this form of journaling during a particularly stressful time in college, and have loved it ever since. The point of the journal exercise is to write about whatever is frustrating you or causing you any sort of stress or anxiety. At some point, once you've gotten past the climax of whatever is ailing you, you start to feel better. It's at this moment, you add a silver lining. Usually, my key word is "but." I'll skip a few lines, add in "but" and then proceed to explain why whatever is so bad...isn't actually so bad. I find positive ways to view the situation and healthy solutions to the problem. By the time I'm finished writing, I feel 10 times better than when I started and more often than not, have a quick and easy solution.
I know it sounds a little far-fetched. How do you go from an angry, emotional wreck to a bright and optimistic ray of sunshine? That's the point of letting it all out, though. You DO want to let it all out and don't hold back, or else it won't work as well. The act of letting it all out full tilt wears you out a little. You start feeling a sense of calm, and that while you might start the transition begrudgingly, soon you'll start feeling better and the solutions flow a little faster.
This may not work for everyone, of course. But it's been an effective way to deal with my emotions and feelings before they made it to the surface of my tongue at the wrong time.
