GRATITUDE JOURNAL

Journaling has been a part of my life for over fifteen years. I started as a way of remembering my life--joys,sorrows, ambitions, travels, even what I was reading--and notes of what was going on in the world in general. I also include a lot about what I am writing or thinking about writing.

A few months ago I received a letter from a friend I've made through a writer's letter exchange. She wrote to tell me that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, had received a lympectomy and radiaton. As is normal,however, they removed several lymph nodes and sent them off for biopsy. Although her cancer had been a small growth, the tests showed it had spread.

Each year on January 26 I take out a special journal I began several months prior to that date in 1998. Because of this letter, I took it out again. This journal is the story of my journey with breast cancer. When writing it, I filled it with my words of fear and anguish, prayer and hope, thanksgiving and praise. I called it my gratitude journal.

I will share some of the verses from the Bible and quotes from other survivors in my next letter to my friend. I will pray for a speedy journey through her treatment and that eight years from now she too will be able to shre her news of recovery and life after the Big C with others.

My gratitude journal still renews my spirit when I read the words there. It offers me a glimpse into how much closer I have drawn to my family and my God. The journal gave me an outlet for the fearful struggle, the challenge of a deadly disease, and the journey I took to arrive at the fulfilling life I enjoy today.

I urge you all to keep a journal. Problems or fear, happiness or success--you too can use your writing as a tool to create the person you always wanted to be.