Have you ever heard this expression? It refers to the fact that our skills and muscles will diminish if we don’t use them! This is true for our minds! What?? There is research that shows that our minds are similar to any other muscle.
If you have journaled for any length of time you have probably experienced a break from journaling. Everyone does. Some breaks from journaling are only a day or two but some breaks are for years. Either way we all face “falling off the bandwagon” of a good habit. Journaling is like a muscle that needs to be worked out just like any other muscle or skill. Use it or Lose it!
Why do we stop journaling?
I am just like you or anyone else. Falling off the bandwagon of a good thing is easy to do. Getting back into the habit could be hard. So! Watch for these things and you’ll likely stay in the habit.
Someone is mean to us!
We have some breach of safety and privacy. Our journal is read by someone that shouldn’t be reading it. This is probably the hardest and most common reason younger people stop writing. An older relatives can ruin a good writing habit by not understanding that writing is expressive and needs to be understood (not punished). We have anxiety that is sometimes too hard to overcome to get back journaling.
Life happens!
Another reason is a big life event has derailed us. Facing an unexpected death in your family or a relationship breakup is so hard. We lose our desire to write because grief. The problem is that grief is best unpacked with writing! Coping with grief can take a long time. Getting back in the habit of writing will help unblock all the mental health stuff that is needed to deal with grief.
Your Schedule Changes!
Lastly, we get busy. We lose control of our schedule and over commit. We have to give up something (and it’s not going to be sleep!) Unfortunately, busyness is a disease! I’ve noticed over the years that saying no and building margin into my life for mental health reasons is VERY challenging. There are so many competing demands for our time.
Protect your good habit, or you will lose it!
The benefits of journaling are incredible. We have to be very intentional to continue to write through all of the good reasons that make us want to stop.
Would you connect with me and let me know if you can relate? Why do you stop journaling?
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