As you go along in the journaling process, you learn a great deal about who you are and then eventually you begin to consider the question of what you want.
Ask anyone on the street such a question and they might answer predictably:
• Money
• Better health
• More sex
• Vacations
• Bigger breasts, whiter teeth, stronger abs
In person, out loud, these are the kinds of responses you'll get, usually accompanied by a chuckle or a roll of the eyes. But ask yourself in your journal and it's a different story.
Write the question at the top of a page and see what happens as you explore it for 10 or 20 minutes.
At first, you answer in the usual ways. Then you start naming wants that have to do with your personal situation, relationships, and environment.
You begin to consider what you want for the big picture of your life, what you want the arc and climax of your existence to be.
You think of what you want to do and what legacy you hope to bestow. You think about how you want to die and what you want to happen after that.
You may even include your desire to improve yourself, your want to become a better person.
Obviously, the real answer to the question is long and complex! That's probably why we seldom pause to study it. But when you write them out in your journal, your wants become
• Better defined in your consciousness
• More transparent: a weak and superficial want is easily identified while a core want immediately fires you up
• More achievable: by writing it down you are beginning to map a route it achieving it
• Respectable and even precious as guides to your life.
You can see how useful making such a journal entry can be. When you've carefully considered your wants, you can confidently set out to obtain them. If you don't do this exercise now and then, you may find yourself involved in a life you don't want at all.
image from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/benjamine-s/6958343187/
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