To journal or not to journal ? That is the question !

'Write it all down '

I was one told by my CBT counsellor . I looked at him like he had two heads . Write it all down?  Was he serious all the thoughts in my head I couldn't make sense of , I remember the panic I felt , the complete and utter feeling of feeling suddenly naked . 

I was sent home with headers , tasks to write daily thoughts , how I responded , good days , what had made me feel better, what had made me laugh , what I had achieved in a day , how I could deal with a situation in future. We're my thoughts evidenced by fact and the list went on . 

At first it was challenging, I struggled to write openly and honestly what if someone read it . But as the weeks went by I saw something and felt something very significantly . This writing it down malarkey was helping me see the positive moments in a day , my negative thoughts were unjustified , my thoughts were not evidenced  by facts , I was actually enjoying putting it all down on paper . 

A path was being formed , a path of positivity , a path of challenging my thoughts , a path that suddenly became intruiging and that was enabling me to unravel my thoughts , learn from them learn about me ! 

So although yes I was sceptical at first about the write it all down elephant in the room at the start . It worked in my case , I developed a love an understanding of journaling and the benefits it can bring . 

I don't journal every single day now but I do still journal , I note down positive feelings , achievements and if I need to digest and make a rational judgement of my thoughts . 

I believe we can all be judgemental with ourselves and prejudge something before we actually try it . 

So going back to the ' To Journal or not to journal ' title . I think it's down to the individual to at least try it before pre- judging the results .