Are you scared of writing? Or have you learned to use it to empower yourself?
Writing is something that is easy for people to hate. In a culture of technology and conversations, it is easy to be paralyzed by your thoughts and a pad of paper (physical or digital). Writing forces you to be alone. While you can use writing for conversations, it is a one-way street at its most basic parts.
We have all heard of studies or speakers talking about the importance of writing and being alone with your thoughts. I recently heard an elderly person say their biggest regret in life was not keeping a journal. “What a joy it would have been as I look back on my life to remember the struggles and accomplishments that got me to where I am today.”
Yet why do so many of us refrain from taking the time to write for ourselves? A few of the reasons that pop into my head:
- Fear. We are afraid of someone disagreeing, or not liking it.
- Time. We are so consumed with other media we feel we cannot handle anything else.
- Remorse. In regards to a journal, many of us do not want to remember the hard parts of life.
A while ago, I read a study on the thankfulness of people. Written by a Christian author, she said the biggest way to combat not being satisfied is to keep a prayer journal. You can write out full prayers or keep it simple just writing bullet points with what you are thankful for that day and what you are praying for. There are two big rewards that can come from this:
One, looking back on struggles/hardships/concerns and seeing how you were brought through them is a reminder of faithfulness, protection, and guidance. And two, there is power in the written word. Writing what you are thankful for is a daily reminder of how much you have.
Are you ready to write for (and with) joy?
