I have a hard time processing my feelings. There, I said it. I can’t help it! It is just a fact. The problem with me is that I do not seem to be able to know what I am feeling unless I talk about it. While that may be true of many people, just vocalizing what I am thinking is not usually enough for me. Yes, I get a bit more insight, but where I get the best results is when I write stuff down.
Now, do not get me wrong. I do not just sit down at the computer and my feelings come pouring out. Instead, I write about what happened to me that day or week or however long it has been since I last wrote. One thing after another pops into my mind. After I am done and have everything where I can see it, I read what I have written.
By reading through the events and even dialogue of my day, I can see where the problems lie. There is just something about seeing it written out in black and white that helps me to really get a grasp on things. When I see the whole picture instead of everything swirling around my head I can think more rationally and clearly. That may seem counterintuitive when you are talking about getting in touch with your feelings, but feelings are dependent on how your brain processes them. Like how fear can manifest as anger or anxiety as excitement, the way you process your feelings affects what you feel. In my case, I have trouble expressing feelings until I am clear what they really are.
For all the people out there that do not have this problem what I am saying may seem very strange, but for people like me this is just the way we function. A daily writing journal is a great way to really deal with emotions and problems on a regular basis. I know that for myself when I skip a few days writing it takes much longer to untangle all the events and deal with the lingering emotions than it would if I had taken the time to write every day. Even just a paragraph or two is sometimes enough to deal with the average day.
Another great reason to journal your thoughts and feeling and even the events in your life on a regular basis is so that you can spot patterns. Do you always get angry when one person is around? Do you feel depressed at the beginning of every week? Do you get excited about the weekend and then feel let down after it is over? All these things can be spotted as unhealthy patterns when you write them down. By keeping track of patters like this you can begin to change things. Avoid the person that makes you angry or deal with the core issue and find out what they do that makes you so angry. Maybe you are not angry at all but hurt or afraid of them. Why do they affect you in that way? By confronting the issue you can overcome it rather than survive it repeatedly. If you always get down at the start of the week then why? Should you change your schedule? Is there something you can do to make the beginning of the week a positive experience? If you feel let down on the weekends then is there something you can plan that will be more to your liking? Or should you change the way you think about the weekend altogether?
As you can see, writing down your emotions, reflections, and thoughts can allow you to deal more effectively with issues in your life and gain a sense of clarity.
Author Bio:
Ken Myers is the founder & contributor for http://www.longhornleads.com/. He frequently researches and writes about a variety of topics like education, Technology, Health and many more. He welcomes your comments.
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