THRIVINGonly | Journaling

How do you THRIVE when all you have learned is how to SURVIVE?

I’ve always experienced BIG emotions which often overwhelmed myself and others. I didn’t quite know what to do with what I was feeling. Then you add grief to the mix. Honey, I was a put together hot mess! 

I had mastered the art of compartmentalizing. Holding everything together because whether I was ready, life was moving on! I needed somewhere to get what I was feeling out, yet I experienced challenges opening up to people. I didn’t realize something so simple would be so impactful on my life. 

Do you also experience BIG emotions that often overwhelm others? Does your day-to-day life cause you stress? Could you use space to organize, process, and reflect on your thoughts?

I reluctantly share the depths of what I am truly going through with others -especially when life gets crazy! I often bottle everything up until I explode like a ticking time bomb. 

Shoutout to my Godmother for recognizing and equipping me with a much needed tool after my Daddy’s passing in 2015. Tool -anything used as a means of accomplishing a task or purpose. My purpose was to express what was trapped inside. 

For the record, I wasn’t always a diary kinda girl. I saw it in the movies and thought it was corny. Sometimes, I be in my own way. I had to push my limiting thoughts to the side and give it an honest try. What did I have to lose? 

Sometimes I wrote, and sometimes, I didn’t. Sometimes it was and written, and sometimes, it was a digital note.  There are periods where I wrote daily and other periods where I was absent for over a year. What matters is I didn’t give up. I kept the journal and when it was on my heart, I wrote.  I was released. I found a safe space.

Some pages are left with dried salty spots from the tears I cried. When I go back and read now, I feel for the restless young woman that walked around with a heavy heart. I am proud of that woman for not giving up!

Journaling might be the tool you didn't realize you needed. But you won’t know until you give it an honest try! 

Check back next week for another THRIVINGonly tool!