Either you are a journal writer, or you are not.\u00a0 But then you might be a partial record keeper, like me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t write every day, or every month for that matter.\u00a0 I have learned that I like to see what I have accomplished at the end of a year, and if that isn\u2019t written down anywhere, and I have most definitely forgotten my efforts, I feel very non productive, and that\u2019s bad.<\/p>\n
I have walked through a graveyard and seen a headstone with a name of a woman on it and \u201cMother\u201d inscribed below; no dates, no family names, and no idea if the name is her birth name or her married name.\u00a0 More than likely, that is the only record of her ever having lived on this earth. \u00a0\u00a0There are too many women in this world who lived, but were never recorded as living.\u00a0 I want to be remembered.
\nI keep a very unusual journal.\u00a0 It is more a record of my goals and accomplishments, as opposed to my feelings and experiences.\u00a0 If there is something special that I want remembered, I will write about that in detail, but otherwise I list things.<\/p>\n
At the end of every year, I list everything I accomplished from reading the Book of Mormon through to painting the Living Room to sending off a missionary into the field.\u00a0 I give myself credit for anything and everything.\u00a0 I\u2019ve worried that I\u2019m forgetting some valid things, so I will list my accomplishments by month, so my list can be longer and more detailed by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Many years ago, I set a goal to read 100 books a year, so every year I track how many I have read.\u00a0 Again, because of my questionable memory, I write the name of the book down and rate it from 1-5 (some books have managed to be 5+ or so, if it\u2019s really really good).\u00a0 Somehow by rating them it triggers a memory that I did indeed like it.\u00a0 And I read any and every type of book imaginable.<\/p>\n
I will also write down important things I\u2019ve learned from books, talks, and people.\u00a0 I have a section for quotes.\u00a0 I have a wish list.\u00a0 I tend to put myself through learning curves- learning something new in a hurry \u2013 and will have a place, for what I\u2019ve learned, to refer to.\u00a0 Of course, I always set new goals for the next year.\u00a0 I actually achieve much of what I set out to do, because I want to write about my achievement at the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Another journal I kept for years was moments in my children\u2019s lives.\u00a0 In one book, I sectioned out a space for each of my kids and through the years I wrote down funny things they said, important things they said, their experiences they were too young to remember, my feelings for them at any given moment, etc.<\/p>\n
Here are some ideas to journal about:<\/p>\n
I believe journals should always be positive.\u00a0 There are going to be times when we need a place to explode or completely let go.\u00a0 But if we don\u2019t resolve it, measure what we have learned, or come to know, the event is worthless as a memory or to others reading it.\u00a0 We must always strive to better our lives, move forward, learn, grow, remember; ultimately, be remembered.\u00a0 My journal legacy is just that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Either you are a journal writer, or you are not.\u00a0 But then you might be a partial record keeper, like me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t write every day, or every month for that matter.\u00a0 I have learned that I like to see what I have accomplished at the end of a year, and if that isn\u2019t written […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[645],"tags":[221],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-historygenealogy","tag-journal"],"yoast_head":"\n