Lord, Help Me Journal for the Next 30 Days #NaBloPoMo

Journal for the Next 30 Days

When I was a teenager, I kept a journal and wrote in it regularly. I detailed the silliest thing in my life. What happened in junior high. Which boys liked me and who didn’t.

When  I was in college, I kept track of what I wore to class everyday so that I could go at least a month without repeating my clothes. (How shallow, now that I think back.)

When I was in graduate school, I was too busy with my classes, hours at the University of Missouri’s TV station and eventually my graduate project to keep a daily journal.

Now that I’m a wife, mother and businesswoman in my 40’s, I keep a written planner with a schedule of where I have to be and when, along with deadlines for projects. I do my best to post things on the family calendar on the refrigerator too.

But true journaling is something I’ve never returned back to and I regret it.

Maybe because in my career I told other people’s stories instead of my own. Now as a blogger, I give you a peak into my parenting journey.

But TODAY, November 1, 2015 I will start daily journaling at least for the next 30 days. I’m not sure if it’ll be a gratitude journal or a mix of what I ate and how I feel each day.

NaBloPoMo November 2015

Daily journaling isn’t my only goal. Don’t ask me why I’m starting so many things this month, but I feel the need to do things differently than what I’ve done in this past. Maybe my widening waistline and nights of horrible sleep are telling me to switch things up ASAP.

Today I will start

  • Daily journaling
  • 30 Squat challenge AND a 30 day pushup challenge (I found two different ones for each and I’m debating on which to follow).
  • Preparation before I go back to phase 1 of the low carb  South Beach Diet
  • Daily blogging as part of #NaBloPoMo –  National Blog Posting Month where I’ll post here every day. You’re welcome to subscribe and get parenting news in your inbox.

Talk back to me in the comments: Any advice on how to keep this all going? As moms, do you keep a personal journal?

My Mom does a great job of this. She keeps a daily journal and has been doing it (I think) even before she retired.

Love the South Beach Diet
 

A few months ago, I saw a fellow blogger share a photo on Facebook of the journal she’d just bought from FedEx Kinkos. I ran out to buy three of them the next day. I saved two for myself and gave one away. I’m ready to put it to good use. It has a lovely message for women: “Always remember, you are braver than you believe; smarter than you think, & twice as beautiful as you ever imagined.”

Wish me well. Say a prayer for a sister!

Braver Journal

About Joyce Brewer

Creator & Host of Mommy Talk Show. Emmy award-winning TV journalist.Wife & Mommy; Mom Blogger; Social Media Coach; Long Island, New York transplant living in Atlanta, GA. Follow Joyce on Twitter @MommyTalkShow Author of Use What You Know: A Business Idea Guide for Moms featuring interviews with mompreneurs who created businesses using their skills & backgrounds.

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10 comments

  1. I was in Barnes and noble yesterday, not for a journal, but of course I wondered over there anyway. I got a new journal for the exact reason you said: I used to journal every last detail. Now it’s so sporadic. So this month I’m going to get back on track. Now that squat challenge maybe but the push-ups noooo! Lol I’ll cheer you on!

  2. I could not live without my journal. But 95 percent of it would not be fit for publishing. It’s simply the method I use to process my feelings, jot down random thoughts I don’t want to lose, safely rage and complain, and if I am writing, then it’s where I go first to get my writing flowing. Good luck with your writing this month! But remember not to be hard on yourself if you don’t get to everything on that long list!!

  3. You are tempting me to join you this month but it’s such a commitment! I haven’t participated in NaBloPoMo since I first began blogging. My blog has evolved since then but I miss the connection I had with my readers back then.

    I, too, am struggling with my fitness this month so I returned to the gym last week and went every day except for Friday. I am starting the 21 day fix meal planning portion.

    I know you’ll succeed in your goals this month and look forward to reading along.

  4. Love the quote on the journal! Awesome message. You’ve got a lot kicking off in November but they’re all things that relate to your health and wellness – love it! Here’s to an awesome NaBloPoMo15! You’re going to rock this out.

  5. I have so many journals. And like you wrote down every detail. I even wrote in college what I wore too, so I wouldn’t repeat! SMH!!! Never met anyone else that admitted that. Go ahead with your bad self, with that squat challenge. You are doing a lot this month. I applaud you!! I am going to be your cheerleader too! GOOOO JOYCE!!!! DO IT ALL!!! LOL!! You got this!

    • When this is all over, I’m going to need a massage for my sore arms and sore thighs.
      Thanks for the encouragement!

  6. Your ambition this month makes me want to follow through on the abs challenge I was supposed to be doing last month. But…Thanksgiving won’t let me be great. I actually have the same quote that’s on your journal on my wall at work!

  7. Yay! I hope you find it helpful to journal and “release.” I love love journaling. Happy November!

  8. Arelis Cintron-Dias

    I must own at least 100 journals … most of them are in our storage unit so I try not to purchase new ones but I get excited when I see one with a cover that speaks to my soul.

    I use to journal a lot when I was younger and I stopped about 5 to 6 years ago. I started writing daily in a gratitude journal and am sharing the journey with others on Instagram. I started it on October 1st and I aim to do it daily until Thanksgiving Day. A lot has gone on in my life that is out of my control this last year and a half and after having the baby my anxiety levels went through the roof. It was effecting my health in a negative way. In hopes of making my mind heal my body without medicine, I started writing at least one thing that happened that day that I was grateful for. It hasn’t erased my anxiety but I feel less pressure weighing down on my chest and that is a start.