We all have those lingering thoughts that we carry with us, day after day. Things that worry us, things that stress us out, things we are excited for, things that are upsetting us -- basically events that cover any of the many everyday emotions that we humans get to experience. For many years, I had often stayed awake at night attempting to get to sleep with my mind preoccupied and racing with any number of thoughts, but I never actually did anything about it. Then last year, I finally started writing down all of the thoughts that preoccupied my mind and I found that getting them down on paper actually stopped them from constantly coming into my head.

The first thing to understand about keeping a journal is that it doesn't have to be a literary masterpiece, but rather simply a constant flow of thoughts. Mine often skip around a little, because that's just the way thoughts are -- all over the place. It is not something you go back and check for correct grammar; it is simply for you in the moment as a place to organize your thoughts and know what's bothering you. It is also something that should not be filtered. No one else will be reading it, it is never going to be published, so it is crucial that you just write what you feel. It's better to get your feelings out this way than keeping them bottled up inside or letting them out to someone else when you shouldn't. A journal is a look into your own mind and it has nothing to do with what you SHOULD think or believe or hope for.

Another great reason for keeping a journal is that you can look back on it after you made it through a tough week or any rough patch and see how you got through it, and motivate yourself to accomplish something similar in the present. Or maybe you accomplished something terrific and you can look back and remind yourself of how good it felt to reach your goal. Remembering that feeling can help give you the extra push you needed to accomplish your new goals. You may often find that those things that worried you weren't such a big deal after all, and that things work out in one way or another at the end (whether it is in ways we expect or not). Or you may gain a deeper insight into a reason you failed at something so that you can approach the problem in a different way next time, in order to achieve success.

I've been keeping a journal for so long now that I think I'd go crazy without it -- I'd probably never sleep. So I Invite you to try out your own journal and see what you discover about yourself. Just five minutes a day right before you go to bed. You'd be surprised what your own thoughts are capable of teaching you about yourself.