[Guest blog by Rick Kuplinski, SMART Facilitator]
I have a ritual I’ve repeated on every anniversary of my decision to confront my addictive behavior once and for all. I dust off and re-read the journal I kept for about 100 days as I entered treatment and used SMART Recovery as my preference in peer support.
Every time I do, I remember how important that journal was in the earliest days of recovery. It helped me settle my mind, collect my thoughts, and reflect on the most impactful things I was learning. I also started taking notice of the positive changes I was beginning to experience in mind, body, and spirit. Consistent with SMART’s emphasis on “Self-Management,” journaling was perhaps the most important thing I did to reinforce that I am primarily responsible and accountable for making positive changes in my life.
I value getting reacquainted with the wisdom recorded in those pages, some of it passed along to me by others; some of it the result of my own introspection. I smile at humorous descriptions of the (excuse me) “sobering” experience of deciding to turn my life upside down to put it right side up again. But most of all, it fills me with gratitude to read how day-by-day I confronted my ambivalence, settled on a plan for change, and embarked on a recovery journey that continues today. This journal, its pages yellowing with age, remains an important tool for keeping me focused in my maintenance stage of change, and it reinforces lessons learned that are relevant to all 4-Points of SMART Recovery (Building and Maintaining Motivation/Coping with Urges/Managing Thoughts, Feeling and Behaviors/Living a Balanced Life).
As a SMART Recovery facilitator, I meet others who have similarly benefited from journaling. But I meet at least an equal number who are reluctant to even try. “That’s not me. I’m not a writer” is often the reason given. But as they further describe their fears, it becomes clear that they are more concerned about how to get started writing vs. being worried about writing adequately. If this describes you, consider this easy-to-follow outline that can help remove the writer’s block and make journaling a much simpler task.
-
Highlight of the Day: What was the best, most important, or most impactful thing about the day? What was the thing that you would most like to reflect upon or remember? NOTE: There is always a highlight.
-
Lowlight of the Day: What was not so great about the day? What did you learn from it? What, if anything, might you do differently if you encounter a similar situation in the future? NOTE: If the day had no lowlight, simply write, “None” or “No low!”
-
Self-Affirmation: Give yourself a pep talk. What was something positive about yourself that you noticed this day?
-
Daily Gratitude: What was something that filled you with a sense of thankfulness?
-
Thought(s) for Tomorrow: Set one or more intentions for the day to follow (i.e., important things you want to remember to do, think about, experience, focus on, etc.)
Some further considerations about journaling in general:
-
Your journal is a record of your conversations with yourself. YOU are its audience. So, there is no need to worry about perfect sentence structure, spelling, grammar, etc. Write your journal in a way that works for you. Using this outline, you can make your journal entry as brief as five paragraphs, five sentences, just five words, or even doodles if that is what you prefer to do.
-
Pick a time of day and a frequency for journaling that works for you. Once a day near the end of the day works for most people—but not all. You can choose to journal less frequently and at a time of day that gives you the best opportunity to think and reflect.
-
Consistency is the key. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss days here and there. But try to establish it as a routine part of your wellness practice.
How long to continue journaling? This also is up to you. It could become something you stick with over the long term. Or you can choose to do only as long as you find it useful. IMPORTANT: The goal is to develop the habit of positive and constructive self-reflection, whether or not you continue to place your thoughts into writing.
In addition to the outline provided here, we also offer these suggested prompts to collect your thoughts for journaling after attending each SMART Recovery meeting:
-
Head: Learn anything new? Gain any additional insight?
-
Heart: How do you feel about the meeting, especially as it affects your motivation?
-
Feet: Anything you plan to do as a result of the meeting?
In SMART Recovery, we respect the power of choice. And this includes your choice not to journal. Many like me, however, discover that giving it another try (and having an easy-to-follow outline) made the difference in turning journaling from a dreaded chore into one of the most valuable practices in their recovery.
SMART Recovery is a science- and evidence-informed program that provides educational and peer support to those who want to abstain and gain independence from all addictive behaviors, whether or not they involve alcohol or drugs. The program emphasizes building motivation and self-empowerment skills, employing strategies to control urges, managing thoughts at the root of addictive behaviors and living a healthy, balanced life. Go to the “Meetings” tab at www.smartrecovery.org to find an in-person or online meeting to attend.
