Questions about journaling?

[HopingForJesus]

I feel guilty about the feelings I am having but I cannot talk about my feelings all the time with as little therapy as I have been getting. I only have one session that is free left but I wanted to start keeping a journal of the negative thoughts and feelings and positive ones too. Is it wrong to write my negative, yet true thoughts and feelings out to cope with things or would that upset God?

 

[plumsink]

Hi Hoping:

God already knows everything you feel, whether you journal them or not. The only problem is, if you find yourself dwelling on them more than usual once you start journalling, it might not be good for you. I used to write poetry with some of my negative feelings, and while I don't think it did me much harm, it didn't do me any good either. If anything, it may have reinforced a depressed state of mind. However if you are writing them with an eye to dealing with them and just need to "hear yourself out loud", it may be different. The temptation though, is to wrap ourselves in our depression with words.

Maybe you could make a rule, that for every negative thing you write down you have to think of a positive thing to counterbalance it. That way you could get out your negative feelings while encouraging yourself to be more positive.

Hope this helps

 

[HopingForJesus]

Thank you plumsink. I was thinking about how to go about it because I feel the need to talk about some things that hurt me or make me angry and I need an outlet. I think the suggestion for writing a positive thought for each negative one is a really great idea. God bless

 

[Angeldove97]

I've seen some people do online blogs where they write down nothing but negative emotions and often I just see them falling deeper and deeper into the pain and misery. I really do think you should focus on the positive--- you can use your writing as a way of praising God.

As for the not-so-cheery moods, you can try to turn things around and find a way that even when you're upset, you are thanking God for the opportunity to show Him that you have faith that He will help you through this.

Blessings!

 

[Broken Hearted]

Hi Hoping
I do journaling alot. Im not able to get my emotions out by speaking. And my therapist encourage me to write draw whatever it is. Alot of mine are very dark the drawings and journaling. But whether its good or bad they encourage me to do it. Because when I write or draw whats in my head it makes me feel better alot of the time. Just to let it out. Sometimes I share it with my therapist or my best friend and then sometimes once I get it out I destroy the paper. But it works for me. Like I said I do good things but alot is bad because of so much of my trauma. It also helps relieve some of my anger or stress and even anxiety. Its also one of my coping skills Ive learned to do when I want to Self Harm I let it all out and seeing it helps relieve urges. On my behalf journaling has helped me in so many ways. Im not a big talker but when I write I can pour out every word emotion and pain I have. So on my perspective God cant be mad or uspet when we do this because its so beneficial to me and has at some points saved me from doing alot of bad things.

 

[Angeldove97]

I'm back in here because I thought of another thing, I that personally do, when I have those negative thoughts and emotions present. Instead of me writing it down in a journal (especially if I can't find a way to praise God with it), I write some of it down on a small piece of paper and fold it up and put that paper in my prayer jar that I have. And I leave it alone... every few months I'll come back to it and take a look at what I've written down.

If God found a way for me to get through it, I use it as an opportunity to praise Him. If the pain is still there, it gets folded back up and put back in. It's been a wonderful blessing to see how God has gotten me through so many situations--- most of which have turned out to end up even better than I thought possible.

Just a thought!

Blessings

 

[Godspiritlivesinyou]

im going to try to only put the positive things down and not try to look and for positive things to happen to me but to write them down as they come. if only one positive thing comes to me then ill do that. ill write my negative things and give them to a therapist or tear it up and throw it away so i dont hang on to the negative things in my life but rather the positive things that have happened to me

 

[HopingForJesus]

Thank you all for your input. I haven't started journaling yet. I think it is going to be a natural prgression and I am going to get out the negatives but also work on the positives albeit very hard sometimes. Right now I have been keeping track of daily calories. God bless you all.