Reflective Journaling: A Life or Death Choice

There are many benefits of journaling, particularly reflective journaling, when it comes to the big questions of life.

And one of the most important things we can do to help ourselves is to use our personal journal to look carefully at the choices we make. There are choices that help us grow and become spiritually, physically and emotionally healthier, and others that will take us on a downward spiral; I call them Life Choices and Death Choices.

Life Choices enhance our wellbeing and take us to a great destiny, even though we may have to wait patiently to see the outcome manifest itself. Death Choices, on the other hand, will have some sort of negative result, stunting our growth, bringing dis-ease, or causing stagnation and a feeling of being stuck. Reflective journaling is a wonderfully effective tool for analyzing our choices and keeping ourselves on track, and I use it all of the time.

When I was young, I didn’t understand the power of making Life Choices every day, and rejecting Death Choices. I wasn’t even sure if humans had free will, or were simply pawns in a giant game of chess. I now know with some certainty that we are not just victims of blind forces- we have been blessed with the gift of free will. I’ve learned this truth through my own spiritual journey (which I record in my personal journal), from observing other people’s successes and failures, and from the wise teachings I’ve studied over the years, as well as my own relationship with God.

So how can you use your free will to make Life Choices? Here are my tips, the principles I hold on to in my daily life and base my journal writing practice on:

• Believe you have the power to make good choices. If you don’t believe this, you are like a millionaire with money in the bank, who doesn’t know how to make a withdrawal. If you believe you are powerless it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, because you will fail to take the positive steps you need to take and stay in a downward spiral of negativity. Make the right choices (like eating the right food, caring for your body, leaving that abusive relationship, studying for that degree, etc.) and if in doubt when making a decision, ask your journal to help you decide. Keep journaling until you get the answer; it will materialize if you ask your Higher Power for help.

• Use your personal journal to analyze difficult situations. Are you in a tricky situation? Write about it. How did it come about? Did you make any bad choices that brought this situation about? If so, determine not to repeat them.

• Is the matter outside of your control? We can’t control everything that life throws at us, nor is everything the result of bad choices we have made. We all go through suffering at times; it’s part of the human condition. But we can control how we react to the situation we are in. Self-compassion is good, self-pity is not. Take care of yourself and work out what you need to do to improve your situation. Believe you are loved and that God (your higher power, higher self, or the Universe) wants to help you. Resist the temptation to believe you are suffering more than anyone else, or that no-one cares or understands. This is a Death Choice and will only bring you down. Instead, choose to be grateful for the good things in your life and write them down in your journal. See yourself as a Free Agent, a Decision Maker.

About the Author

Lyn Alderson is a professional journalist, blogger and author, based in the English Midlands.

She has 25 years’ experience of writing news and features for UK  newspapers and magazines.To find out more about Lyn and her work visithttp://lacopywriting.co.uk

If you want to find out more about the health benefits of keeping a journal, check out Lyn's e-book The Write Therapy: How Keeping a Journal Can Make You Happier, Healthier and More Productive available from the Amazon Kindle Store.