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>Having issues?

The solution is pretty easy. Well, the *first steps* toward a solution are easy at least. 

>Pick up a pen.  

![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/23wMsMC9H2LPABXpCfB8g6mum8tYVuZhfoCARQVrYS3TMSYBTvGZkhKMcHRP1A69W1GoS.png)

Over the years, even though they might not be doing it on Hive, I have convinced a few of my friends of the benefits of writing, or journaling, with several taking up the practice consistently. As a result, they have made some quite impressive changes in their lives, as they come to realizations about themselves, and their conditions that they hadn't recognized earlier. They have uncovered patterns of thoughts and behaviors that have held them back from acting, or have been weights on their shoulders for decades. 

It is such a simple practice to start, and while anyone can do it, it seems that many people are reluctant to start. I am not sure if it is out of laziness, *or fear.* I think a lot of people are scared of facing their own thoughts, because they are worried about what they might find there, especially buried in the darker recesses of the mind. Part of this is because once it is uncovered, it is either change, or keep doing the same *knowingly.* There is a difference between sneaking suspicion, and knowing, because one can no longer claim ignorance.

>Feigning ignorance is still possible. 

And faking it is easier when we are constantly entertaining our mind with distractions. We can fill up all the blank space that would have been reserved for thought, with on-demand content that makes us feel like we are fine, at least until there is that gap again, where our thoughts creep in and bring possibility. 

With a pen and a blank page or flashing cursor though, it is forcing the mind to stay in that emptiness and see what thoughts arise. It is is uncomfortable, so they brain will throw up all kinds of excuses to get out of doing it, like overprioritizing the unnecessary, or procrastinating and putting it off for later, because we just aren't "feeling it" now - the conditions must be wrong. 

Push through this though, and people are often pleasantly surprised by how discovering deeper sides of themselves is not only enjoyable, but becomes a necessary part of their day, or week. Some of my friends are getting up early on a Saturday morning, and sitting down for hours at a time writing, before anyone else awakens. It is how they get perspective for their weekend, come to terms with the must-dos, and be grateful for what they have. 

>It is enjoyable. 

Enjoyment doesn't mean that it is easy, or pleasurable, as enjoyment come come from pain - like exercising. However, enjoyment normally comes from opt-in situations, not those that are forced upon us. When we don't consider what is necessary to do and opt into it, it all becomes a chore that sucks our energy, rather than a springboard to what energizes us. 

We also live in a world that has convinced us that we are unable to take care of ourselves, especially our minds and emotional selves. We have been convinced that in order to improve, we need to be supported by some external tool, whether it be a psychologist, or a pharmaceutical. It isn't that these are useless or completely unnecessary, but if we first spent times getting our heads on track ourselves through personal reflection and self-development, the external aid is only needed for the more extreme circumstances. Instead of this though, the bar keeps getting lower and lower, and with increasing speed, we look for someone or something else to *fix* us.

I am a firm believer that if everyone took up a reflective writing habit globally for the next year or two, the world in which we live would be fundamentally different and for the better. So many realizations would be reached, and a lot of them would come down to changing practices that end up sharing more, building relationships and, developing healthier communities. A lot of the animosity, anger and rage, would met away from most people and, the change in atmosphere and culture would start to shift the positions of all people. 

We are taught to read so that we are able to consume the thoughts of others and write so we can prove we can regurgitate what we have consumed. However, I believe that the core power of reading and writing is the ability to reflect on our own experiences in ways that can be shared, so that others can reflect also. It is about humans parsing experience, building understanding and wisdom, and connecting through images for common understanding. 

>It is a constructive process for humanity.

It has been empowering to see the changes in a diverse group of friends who have started doing more reflective work through writing. It has shown that it is not just me, but anyone who puts in earnest effort to reflect, is going to be rewarded with an improvement of some kind. Improvement means *change.* All of them have had to change in some way, including making what they had thought would be very had decisions, but after processing it through, they built clarity, and it was an easy choice after all. But, they still had to *do* the work.

All I can say to people who want to be their best is, *start writing.*

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]


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