By Alexa Wolforth-
“I don’t journal to be productive. I don’t do it to find great ideas or to put down prose I can later publish. The pages aren’t intended for anyone but me. It’s the most cost-effective therapy I’ve ever found.” – Tim Ferriss
Recently, I began journaling. I had been thinking about starting to journal for the past 6 months or so, but I never took the time to sit down and actually begin. I am obviously quite new to writing about life, but I have already found so many benefits in taking just 30 minutes to jot down my own thoughts. I am learning that, even the few weeks that I have written in my journal, I have grown from where I was when I first started. It’s interesting and self-satisfying to look back and see where you were and how far you have come.
When I first decided to begin journaling, I was a little confused as to where to start. I didn’t know exactly what to even write about. I did a little research and found that the easiest way to start journaling is to begin with writing about “gratitude”. In the beginning, my list of things that I was grateful for were pretty broad. However, over a couple of weeks, I could see how much more detailed and specific I was in listing my gratitude for the things in my life. I think that consciously expressing gratitude can be a lot more powerful than we realize. Sometimes, we are so consumed with our daily lives that we don’t take the time to pause and reflect on what we are truly grateful for.
Once I felt like I was ready for the next step, I started to explore more of my emotions from my daily or weekly experiences. I continued to reflect on all that I was grateful for, but I also incorporated how I was feeling on a daily/weekly basis. It actually amazed me how much better I felt after writing what I was feeling down on paper, no matter what types of emotions they were – happy or sad, excited or mad, confused or decisive. It was powerful for me to get these feelings out of my head and express them in my writing.
This escalated into writing daily affirmations, “I am _________________.” I fill in the blank with positive affirmations about myself. They are clear and positive statements that describe myself or my goals as already achieved. I write them along with my gratitude list, and it is one of the highlights of my journaling experience each time I do it.
Looking back now, I wish I would have started journaling much sooner. I am still learning the ins and outs of how to journal, or more so, how I like to journal, but it has been simply powerful for me. There is something about putting pen to paper that is completely transformative. I feel like it’s an incredible tool to look deeper into yourself or your life and discover the authenticity of both. I encourage you to begin with a daily gratitude and see where it takes you!
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Important TBR Updates
- Information and dates for our 2022 3-Day Elite Pitchers Bootcamps can be found on our website. Call the office or fill out the online registration form(s) to reserve your spot! https://www.texasbaseballranch.com/elite-pitchers-bootcamp/
- We’ve just released the information on our Extended Stay Summer Program. Ranch athletes receive messages like the one above at the start of every training day. If you’d like more information, go to https://www.texasbaseballranch.com/events/tbr-summer-program/
