Do not under estimate the power of journalling

Motivation
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For me personally, I cant stress how well the journal entries have assisted me. I did steer clear of them for a very long time, thinking I wouldn’t want to regularly visit and reread countless entries and so on. Not wanting to write down anything personal ect ect..

I found a better way ( for myself atleast) that might assist someone else as it has me. Basically I just have one massive journal entry on the calendar date of my recent reset date. It has about 25 or so small bulletpoints thats a conglomeration of previous entries and failed attempts, reasons I need to Quit, reasons I rationalized why I drank when so many times I said I wouldn’t and how I felt after. Each relapse basically just had me copy paste and add a new small paragraph bullet point. Delete the old entry and just have all my combined summaries in one date, which to me is the most important and easiest to find and look back on when weak. The quit date!

Essentially its a defense mechanism against the first drink because even yesterday when I had some strong cravings, after reading that all it made me think, like F*** I’m falling for that trick again convincing myself i deserve it while reading previous times about how I’d done the same thing and what bullshit reasons I had to do so and what came from it.

I think a combination also of journal writing for self reflection as well as finally going to an AA meeting to surround myself with like minded people have been the best things for me on this run.

I see often responses about going to a Meeting, whether AA, SMART, ect and after a few years of never getting it right.. I finally stepped up and tried a meeting and it may well be the best thing ive done all year.

Main reason for this post is that I havnt seen too much feedback or encouragement about journaling as i have with meeting sugggestions. Though truly believe that to be one of the best things I’ve done for reflection and to really close the door on cravings.

Peace.

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Thrilled about this.. journaling is so beneficial. There are many who journal here.. maybe nothing in the last few days…So glad you have found what works. So glad you are here.

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Good share! You have been working hard. You beat the cravings, and the illusion our inner alcoholic creates.
This is great advise. Putting pen to paper tends to bring out more healing because you remember more as you write.

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Thanks for this. Actually writing down what happened, what you felt about it, what you can do differently, makes it much more concrete than just running it through your head. I need to make more effort in that area. Thanks.

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Great topic & great post!

I’ve been writing down stuff all my life and find it helpful for every situation in life.

Thank you for the reminder to journal again, have been missing out on it in the last months. Your post reminded me that I miss it and it is definitely a very very helpful tool :folded_hands::writing_hand:

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Thank you so much! Why is advice. Ed very encouraging. Good for you!

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Been journaling now since I started my sobriety journey four years ago. It has been immensely useful for me, not to mention cheaper than talking to a therapist. For me, there’s just something about putting my thoughts down on paper that’s satisfying, and even cleansing at times….sometimes even expressing feelings I wouldn’t dare share with someone else.

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