MY LIFE RECOVERY JOURNAL
Write about your life from as far back as you can remember. This is a project that you will revisit frequently when you think about new things to add, new things you will remember that you need to revisit. This exercise is to learn about yourself, be accountable for your life, and be aware of how you contribute to what happens to you. Get detailed, get raw; this is for you. Knowing the parts of yourself that you may have buried because of trauma or heartache will open up new insight and ultimately new life. If you do this and get very detailed and serious about it. I promise you that your life can be amazingly different in the future.
Be specific. Go into detail, add your feelings, the people you were with, the outcomes, and what you experienced. Start as far back as you can remember. Don’t hold back on everything you were feeling, what was happening, and how it affected you.
Write about when you were truly happy, and life was going well. What was i your life at the time that made you feel that way?
Then write about times when you were not happy, when life was difficult, and what was happening at the time.
Write about times that hurt and what you wish could have been different, and what you could have done differently, if possible. If you were unable to do anything to help yourself or change your situation, such as if you were a child, what was the situation and how did that make you feel?
Write about people, about your jobs, your school, your neighborhood, your friends and family. Write about what is meaningful to you.
Write about the people that were negative or toxic in your life, and what did you learn from that
What will you do from now on to either have or avoid from what you now have learned about yourself
With each section:
How did it make you feel
What were the circumstances that you could not change?
Who or what was in your life when you were happy, and life was going well. (this is likely a point of what life means to you)
Who or what was in your life when things were going badly for you
Could you have changed these issues or made different choices?
How did you contribute to what happened, good or bad?
How did you deal with the situation…if it was negative, did you turn to self-destructive means
What made a difference in your life when it was good, and what contributed to it when it was bad
Now that you know yourself better, what is definitively important to you
What are your dreams from now on for the rest of your life
What do you really, really want
How can you now change
What do you need to do moving forward
