by Julia Beirut

Created on: July 15, 2008   Last Updated: July 18, 2008

Write it down before you forget it. That is the most important advice about keeping a journal. It is so easy to forget the details of every day life. Find time at least several times a week to write in a journal and you will preserve your memories forever. Describe the daily happenings of your life and detail your thoughts and feelings so that later in life it will be easy to recall the special moments of your life. You may want to keep a variety of journals; some ideas include: journals about travel, gratitude, relationships, family memories, goals for your life, time spent in nature, or love.

Keep your journals in a specific place where you always know where to find them. This will make it easy to write regularly and document your life. Journaling is fun and helps one understand the complex issues of life. Writing is calming and helps relieve stress too.

You can never have too many journals so when the mood strikes start a new one. Some people keep a comedy journal to document funny occurrences in life. Other people keep a journal about loss and grief. Journals serve many purposes. So if you are grappling with something in life start a journal and take the time to sort out your feelings. Writing your thoughts down helps you analyze your life and make decisions.

Maybe someday your journals will be a family heirloom. Anything created with the handwriting of a beloved relative becomes precious later in life. Some parents start and advice journal when their babies are young and write in it until their children are old enough to understand the advice, perhaps college age. Then the journal is given to the young adult as a guide to life.

If you are starting a new venture such as moving to a new area, creating a business, or getting married keeping a journal is a wonderful way to document this new stage in life. Write down the special moments you experience and then read about them later to gain an even fuller perspective on the lessons learned from the experience.

Your journals may even obtain historic value someday. Now, in the United States, journals from decades ago are being used to track global warming. Scientists are reading old journals to see when snows stopped and when flowers bloomed and then comparing when those events occur in today's world. A journal gives a detailed glimpse into the patterns of life at a specific period in history and thus may become very valuable to researchers decades or centuries later.

So start a journal and save it forever. You will enjoy reading it years from now as a way to understand the journey of your life.

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