This is post 4 of 6 in the series “Middle Way Method”
Keeping a journal is an essential part of the Middle Way Method. The purpose of the Journal is to bridge the two halves of the method together and make them cohesive. This is where the day-to-day, meets the values, goals and you can center yourself.
A journal is different from a diary, in that a diary is more a record of what happens to you. A journal is more about how you react to the world, and feel. The line where keeping a diary ends and journaling begins is blurry. The two are interrelated and are often used interchangeably.
Types of Journals
There are many different styles of journaling that you can embark on. The two main types of journaling that I am going to cover are personal development, and spiritual journaling. These two kinds of journals form the basis of Journaling in the Middle Way Method.
Personal Development
A personal development journal is a place to record your attempts to improve yourself. In a personal development journal, you would record your attempts to improve yourself.
Spiritual
In spiritual journaling the goal is to connect to your spiritual center and the divine. A spiritual journal is written after studying scripture, prayer, meditation, or other spiritual practices.
The Middle Way Method
At the core of Middle Way Method Journaling are the questions:
- What Have I accomplished this Week
- What were the obstacles I faced, and how well did I handle them.
The first question forces us to look at the week, and see our accomplishments. In life it is to easy to overlook what is going well, and focus on our failures. We need to address why we failed, but we also need to address what went well.
The second question focuses us on What prevented us, or attempted to prevent us from accomplishing our goals for the week. From the answers we provide ourselves we can learn when and where we were strong; we can also learn when and where we were weak.
The goal of journaling in the Middle Way Method is to provide a time and place to examine your successes and failures in light of your values, mission, relationships, and roles.