Farley Center

Some Prompts to Get Your Journal Started

In a recent post, we wrote about how journaling can support your sobriety. While journaling is an activity you can personalize and pursue in just about any way you want to, many people still have trouble getting started. 

Some of that difficulty may be self-consciousness. Writing down your feelings and thoughts can feel overly personal. Similarly, you might feel awkward about your writing skills. Maybe punctuation and spelling are not your strong suit. To overcome these feelings of self-consciousness, it is important to remember that your journal is yours and yours alone. You don’t have to share what you write—or how you write it—with anyone else. 

But sometimes self-consciousness isn’t the problem. Instead, the problem is simply that you can’t quite figure out what to write about. That can certainly be discouraging and end your journaling project before it really even begins. 

11 Prompts to Get Your Journal Started

To help you avoid that problem, we offer this collection of prompts:

    1. Set a timer for 10 minutes and write down as many things you are grateful for as you can. When you have completed this exercise, you have also created your own list of prompts. You can write about why you are grateful for each person, place, or thing that appears on your gratitude list. This is also a great first step to establishing a regular gratitude journal practice.
    2. Think about your recovery journey so far. What is something you are finding to be a challenge? What are some steps you could take to make it easier? What parts of the recovery journey seem easiest to you?
    3. Spend a few minutes thinking about a few people you admire. These can be people you know or people you just know of. Choose one and then write down the characteristics you admire about the person. How could you develop those characteristics yourself? Next time you are stuck on a journaling topic, you can turn to this list of folks you admire and choose another one to write about. 
    4. Imagine you are meeting someone for the first time. Jot down three things you would like that person to know about you. Explore why each of those things is important to you. This is a wonderful opportunity to remind yourself that you are not solely defined by the fact that you developed a substance use disorder. 
    5. Reflect on an activity you truly enjoyed when you were growing up. Were you in a band or the choir? Did you do theater or play a sport? Were you in a club or did you pursue a hobby that you enjoyed? Writing about those activities from your younger days may help you identify something you would like to engage with now. Make a note of what steps you might have to take to get started.
    6. What is something you have always been curious about? Use your journal as a place to make a note of things you would like to know more about—and then make a plan for discovering more.
    7. Imagine your dream vacation in as much detail as you can. Where would you go? What would you do? Are there things you could do know that might make that vacation possible in the future?
    8. Make a list of things that stress you out (which we admit might be a stressful activity). Then brainstorm some things you could do to avoid those stressors or make them less stressful.
    9. If you had the opportunity to thank someone who helped you through a difficult time (perhaps related to your substance use disorder, but not necessarily), what would you say to them? Write your thoughts down in your journal—and then consider reaching out to that person and sharing your thanks. 
    10. Write about changes in your life that have been made possible by your hard-won sobriety. What are some specific ways in which your sobriety improves your quality of life? Which relationships in your life support your sobriety and which are potentially problematic? How can you pay forward the help and support you have experienced on your recovery journey?
    11. Besides maintaining your sobriety, what is your biggest goal? What is the first thing you need to do to start working toward it?

Need more inspiration to get writing? Here is a good resource.

This Is Your Prompt to Get the Help You Need

Drugs and alcohol can take over your life and leave you desperate to find a way back to the life you had before you developed a substance use disorder. Because of the difficulties related to withdrawal, it can be all but impossible to find your way back to that sober life on your own.

But at The Farley Center, located in Williamsburg, Virginia, we have the experience and expertise necessary to help you regain and maintain your sobriety. Our entire team is wholly dedicated to helping individuals who are struggling with a substance use disorder. When you are ready to reclaim your life, we are ready to help.

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About programs offered at Carolina Dunes Behavioral Health