On January, 1^st this year I started using The Daily Stoic Journal, by Ryan Holiday. It is a guided journal that has a prompt every day with space to write a morning and evening reflection. Each reflection is nine lines long. Additionally, at the start of every week, the journal includes a passage by Ryan Holiday and some selected quotes from Stoic philosophers. My writing is brief and only takes about 3-5 minutes every morning and evening, but I have stayed consistent with it through the year so far. 

I added a personal habit where at the end of the week I go back and read what I wrote. I will underline anything I find particularly insightful or meaningful. I find it a nice practice to go back and self-debrief how I was feeling throughout the week. My journal writing is typically quite raw and I try not to mince words or feelings. But it isn’t always easy to be vulnerable, even with myself. For that exact reason, my journaling practice has grown very important to me. Every day, for at least a few minutes, I sit down with myself and do my best to be real and honest with how I am living life. 

So, I figured since we are about halfway through the year, I would go back to the start of the year and look over the lines and thoughts I have underlined from January-March. Here a few:

January, 25^th: “Shrink my life down to the things that matter.” I knew as I transitioned out of the Navy that this was going to be a core theme of how I changed my life. While there are still lots of things in flux with my transition, this period in life is providing me with a fantastic opportunity to reevaluate basically everything in my life. The more I can remove distractions that really don’t matter, the more time and energy I can give to the things and people in life I truly love. 

January, 30^th: “To be clueless about things that don’t matter is so powerful.” We all have a limited mental capacity to some extent. To not get caught up in things like social media and bullshit news provides space for working and thinking about things that do matter.

January, 31^st: “Life is fundamentally uncomfortable… It is okay to feel bad or be uncomfortable, embrace humanity.” A reminder not to be too harsh on myself. And a reminder that everyone else is walking their own journey, uncomfortable in ways unbeknownst to me. 

February, 18^th: “Don’t judge. Temperance.” In every social situation this applies. 

March, 7^th: “To have an opinion about anything I should completely understand what someone who disagrees with me would say.” We have so much information at our fingertips these days. Too many people are geopolitical experts with an intimate understanding of the healthcare system, modern science, economics, and intricacies guiding the decisions of every group of people in the world. I find myself needing to express my opinion on things I have no right to have one on. Why? Ego, insecurity. If I want to talk about anything I should know what I am talking about. 

March, 12^th: “It is so much easier to find flaws with a person’s vices than it is to celebrate their virtures.” Isolation. Polarization. Remember that we are all people with many of the same virtues. Then why are we so different?

March, 16^th: “I realize more that a strong, healthy body and a sound mind are miraculous in themselves and should be coveted.” Perhaps this is only truly appreciated when we are sick in body or mind. But I am extremely fortunate and grateful for my health. That is something I can be grateful for every day. 

March, 28^th: “Do the hard things in the moment and I will always feel better.” Do what my nature demands as a human being. I am not alive to sit on the couch all day. Even if I am sick. I am alive to go out into the world and be kind and do things.