The 5 Year Journal

DH and I were on our walk this morning and as often happens, a little ache or pain made us remember our ages.  We aren't old but then 'old' is a moving target.  I asked him, "Didn't you think 50 was old when you were 30?"  "Of course!" he responded.

Well, I did, too.  But those last 20 years have just sailed by.

So with that in mind, 5 years isn't so long at all.

I'm leading up to the idea of keeping a 5 year journal because at first that seems like a big commitment.

I started one in January of 2013 and it has become a daily habit I enjoy.  A 5 year journal is making a short journal entry each day every day for 5 years.  Why?  So you can see how you have changed, or how you haven't changed.

I use Tami Taylor's prompts over on Debbie Hodge's blog.  Here is the link to January/February where she explains the process:  http://debbiehodge.com/2012/01/5-year-journal-01/  and here is the link to August in case you would like to join in:  http://debbiehodge.com/2012/07/keep-5-year-journal-august-prompts/

There are questions for each month - different ones for each day so you answer a different question every day for a year.  Then the next year you just start over answering the same question on the same day of the year.  It's already interesting to see how things have changed - or not.

Here are a couple of my responses to her questions:

March 20

What are you glad you did today?

2013 got taxes done and filed

2014 walked in the sunshine on the first day of spring, started painting the TV table

August 2

What did you let go of?

2013 having to wear tennis shoes on concrete floors (a bit of an accident that I didn’t remember to take tennis shoes)

2014 the idea of getting a embossing machine – again.  This is probably the 3^rd time I’ve planned to buy one and backed out because it isn’t a tool that takes me in the direction I want to go.

Sometimes my answer is just one word.

Now I keep meaning to bring up this topic at the beginning of a month and I forget.  So I finally decided to just post about it anyway.  You really can start at any time of the year.   I use Word documents - one per month to keep my questions and answers.  I just downloaded her PDF's and then cut and pasted the questions right into Word.  Very simple.

You can write your answers in a regular journal, use index cards, all kinds of ways.

I think these are going to make some great scrapbooking prompts down the line.  I may not even wait 5 years on some of them.

It's fun and kind of a relaxing way to end the day.