Dear Diary, I've Decided to Leave You

Diaries are often the one sacred and private space for girls to record their secrets; secrets about crushes on boys, who is a new friend and who is no longer a friend, and the details of the emotional turmoil--so common as a youngster--are all fresh material for a diary. Along with keeping a diary comes the fear that a parent, or God forbid a sibling, might find and read the secrets that have been so painstakingly recorded. Even into adulthood, diaries remain a private, personal item. But, a little over two years again, I decided to write my final diary entry, and it went like this:

"Dear Diary,

I’ve decided to leave you for another. I’ve decided to cease keeping secrets and start sharing my hopes, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, and opinions. I’ve decided to share my words with trusted friends and family members and to openly celebrate the beauty of life and living. From now on I will share my writings in a journal with the help of some very special journal buddies."

By choosing to cease hiding and begin sharing my writings, the topics I focused on took a dramatic shift. As a result of openly sharing my journal writings my focus naturally shifted to the positives, because they are much more enjoyable and fun to share. Pages once filled with sadness, complaints and heartbreak are now filled with hope and joy, possibility and beauty, wonder and happiness. Also, to my vast surprise, my life shifted as well and began to reflect my positive writing focus.

You see, our focus is exceptionally powerful and what we focus on grows bigger! So when I choose to share my writing and to begin focusing on the positives, my life was suddenly more enjoyable, and more enjoyment lead to greater happiness which lead to greater self-esteem and well, you get the point. I want this positive shift to happen for girls of all ages, and that is why I encourage everyone to write a “Dear Diary, I’ve decided to leave you” entry of their own.

Why Journal Sharing

Now don’t get me wrong, there is great value in diaries and secretive writing as a means to process and sort out those extremely personal matters. Yet, I have found that as girls and women, we progress and heal, process and learn our life lessens much faster when we engage the help of a trusted friend, or friends and family. This is why I believe journal sharing is a valuable and smart choice, and I outline below the top three reasons why I so strongly feel this way.

1. Training -- Increased focus on the positives (rather than on secrets, complaints or heartbreak) takes practice and training. Journal sharing is an excellent means of challenging oneself to focus on the positive and with the help of a journal buddy you are more likely to stay on track. Bottom line, it’s more fun to share the positives and it feels better than sharing the negatives.

2. Habit -- Journal sharing creates the powerful habit of sharing and growing beauty rather than hiding in sadness and negativity. Honestly, who would want to journal share with a prolific pessimist! With the help of a journal buddy or journal buddies, you can form the powerful and effective habit of focusing on the positives.

3. Increased Self-Esteem and -Confidence -- Journal sharing teaches one how to be proud and confident through self reflection with the help of a real human being as your mirror. These interactive reflections from your buddy or buddies tend to stick with you and have a more powerful, lasting effect on you and your life.

I encourage you to try journal sharing today and begin to experience the positive effects it will have on your writing and your daily life. Get a notebook, buy a special journal, or share by email. Whatever medium you choose, take the leap and try sharing your journal writings with trusted friends or family members. You might enjoy it more than you think!

Article Source: http://www.articledestination.com

Jill Schoenberg Girma is the author of “Journal Buddies: A Girl’s Journal for Sharing and Celebrating Magnificence.” Her professional experience includes more than six years of working directly with young people.

Journal Buddies is available for purchase direct from the publisher (visit us at www.journalbuddies.com for more details), on Amazon.com, or by ordering through any retail store by the title “Journal Buddies: A Girl’s Journal for Sharing and Celebrating Magnificence.”

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