Circumstances don't determine how we experience life, our reactions do.
Growing up, I was highly sensitive. It was a rollercoaster ride of mood swings. When I felt happy, it was the best time of my life; when I felt sad, it seemed like things would never ever be good again.
As long as I remember I was tracking my emotional state. I did it by observing, asking myself questions and coloring days in a calendar. There was no recognizable pattern.
Then I discovered journaling. Writing down my thoughts, experiences, and emotions taught me a lot more about my mood swings. I had a chance to study them objectively and manage them.
After over seven years of journaling, I became much more stable emotionally. I discovered principles that I never heard anywhere else. I’d like to share them with you.
What Goes Up Must Come Down—and Vice Versa
In 2021, I got into stock trading.
I took some courses and experimented on my own. As I studied, I realized a simple principle: the price chart is predictable. There are only two movements - up and down. Everything that goes down will eventually go up, and everything that goes up will eventually go down.
Price doesn't go only up or down but it interchanges.
Journaling opened my eyes to see the same truth about emotions.
They rise and fall constantly. When things go down—whether it's stock price or emotions—the next turn is up. We don’t know exactly how much or when, but the next turn is predictably up.
Emotions are volatile, not stable.
Before journaling, when I felt sad, it seemed like the negativity would last forever, making me even more sad, concerned and anxious. When I feel happy, I assume my positive mood will never change. Realistically, neither of them is true - life is dynamic.
Journaling revealed that life is never only negative or positive but a compound of both.
When things aren’t going well, I remind myself: This is just a moment, it will pass, and things will change. When I feel happy, I remind myself of the same reality - happy moments are temporary too.
I'm grateful when I'm in a good mood, and hopeful when I feel down.
Knowing the temporary nature of every emotion made me stable.
Life is a Story
Life is a story we live.
Journaling empowers you to write your story and read it. When you read your own story, you gain a new and objective perspective. Living day-to-day, we get stuck in the present moment, attached to how we feel right now. But when you read through two months’ worth of journal entries in one sitting, you realize how every little mood is part of a bigger image.
Great moments aren’t the end where you live “happily ever after.” Life isn’t a fairy tale. Neither do difficult and tragic moments are the end of your story.
As long as you’re alive, your story continues.
Journaling is how I became less attached to present moods and saw that none of what I'm experiencing at any given moment in time is the conclusion but a link connecting a massive chain of a story.
Final Thoughts
Emotional fluctuations are part of being human.
You can't expect to feel only great or sad for the rest of your life. Realistically, you can expect to have good days and bad days, good experiences and bad experiences.
As long as your story isn't over, you have the potential to experience both.
If you haven’t started journaling, I highly recommend it.
As you reflect, you can see where your life is headed and learn things about yourself that you might never notice day-to-day. Sadness will bring hope knowing that the next movement will be positive. You will be thankful for the happiness but won't be attached to it.
Journaling is a life-changing practice that helps you understand yourself, your emotions, and your own story.