Why I Keep a Journal

I am a journaler. I have kept a journal for over 25 years. You can give me any date in the past 25 years and I can tell you what I was doing on that date. Some people have questioned why I do this. Why bother? What good reasons do I have to keep a journal? That's what I would like to talk about today.

Let me introduce my topic by sharing this little story with you:

There were two elderly couples who were enjoying a friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other, "Fred, how was the memory clinic you went to last month?" "Outstanding," Fred replied. "They taught us all the latest psychological techniques...visualization, word association...it made a huge difference for me." "That's great!" his friend said. "What was the name of the clinic?" Fred went blank. He thought and thought, but couldn't remember. Then a smile broke across his face and he asked, "What do you call that flower with the long stem and thorns?" "You mean a rose?" His pal answered. "Yes," Fred exclaimed. "That's it!" Then he turned to his wife and said, "Rose, what was the name of that clinic?"

Let's face it. None of us has a perfect memory. Let me ask you this, can you remember what you did yesterday? Probably most of you can. What about a week ago? How many of you can remember what you did a month ago from today? How about a year ago today? How quickly we forget.

A life worth living is a life worth recording

Go to any cemetery and you will find headstone after headstone of people who have nothing left of their lives except a name on a headstone. That's it! Many of these people lived an entire lifetime full of trials and struggles, triumphs and failures and all that is left is their name - because nothing was recorded.

What would you think if I told you I have in my hands you mother's personal journal and that I'm going to read to you what she wrote on the day you were born? Would you like to hear what she wrote? Of course you would. So would I. But I can't do that because I don't really have her journal. I don't know if your mother kept a journal. Did she? If she had, would you be interested in reading it? I think you would.

I would like to share with you the 8 reasons I have discovered for keeping a journal. Here they are:

8 Reasons to Keep a Journal

1. Its Therapeutic

There is a psychological benefit that comes when you are able to express the thoughts and concerns and deepest feelings of your heart. It can provide a way for you to vent your pent up emotions. Plus it's cheaper than counseling!

2. For Yourself

I have an 83 year-old neighbor who has no children. He's a good friend of mine. One day I spoke with him about keeping a journal and his reply was, "Why would I want to do that. I have no children. Who would read it? I tried to explain to him that journals aren't just for your posterity. There is an enormous benefit from going back and reading your own thoughts and feelings that you recorded long ago. It helps you understand who you are and how far you have come in your life.

When I was in the 7th grade I lived in a small town in the desert in Arizona. For a number months I kept a diary in a very small spiral notebook. For some strange reason I made a time capsule using a mayonnaise jar and placed my diary in it and buried it in the desert. It didn't mean much to me then. Now, thirty-five years later, I've made the 14-hour drive back to that place and with a pick-axe and shovel dug and dug in the blazing sun trying to find my time capsule that contained my journal. Unfortunately I couldn't find it. What I would give to have that small diary again and explore the thoughts and feelings of my 12-year-old self.

What seems trivial and mundane to us now, we will treasure up in the distant future.

3. For Future Generations

My great grandfather was Peter Howard McBride. When he was 6 years old his family crossed the plains of America with nothing but a handcart to hold all their belongings. It was a terribly difficult trip with many trials along the way. In fact his father froze to death during a terrible snow storm in Wyoming. It is an amazing story. Why do I know this story? Because Peter's older brother Heber kept a journal. I'm sure when Heber McBride wrote in his journal he had no idea it would be quoted hundreds of time worldwide. Just do an internet search on his name and see what I mean. So yes, write for future generations.

4. Because You Forget

Like my little story I told at the beginning, our memories are temperamental and fragile things. I am amazed when I look back in my own journals and find events in my life that I have no recollection of whatsoever. It's totally gone except for the fact that I wrote it in my journal. Don't count on remembering all of the important events in your life. Like the snow melting in spring, your memories tend to melt away too.

5. For Legal Protection

If I'm ever accused of a crime I have a pretty good record of where I've been and what I've been doing. Plus, if I ever need to know when I bought that car or when that accident happened or what day my father died - it's all recorded in my journal.

6. To Remind You of Lessons Learned

They say that those who don't study history are bound to repeat it. I think that holds true with your own personal history. As you go throughout your life you are continually learning lessons from yours and other's mistakes. It can help to re-read those events and remember the lessons learned to avoid repeating them.

7. To Remind You of Your Blessings

It's good to look back and see how far you have come. Recently I was reading what I wrote in my journal twenty years ago. At that time my wife and I were in the middle of buying and moving into our current home. We basically had nothing back then. We could only afford a few pieces of used furniture and were scraping by to make it financially each month. Those were hard times but happy times. I'm grateful to have gone through them. It helped my wife and I grow closer together as we struggled through those lean years. It helps me appreciate what I have today.

8. For Just Plain Fun

My wife Lisa is also an avid journal keeper. Many times we have pulled out our journals and have read them together to see what we each wrote on a given day in the past. We sit on the bed laughing so hard at the crazy things we've been through. Sometimes we'll find an argument we had in the past and read what each of us wrote about it and laugh some more. Seeming tragedies and rough times of the past become delightful and fond memories in the future.

9 Suggestions of What to Write in Your Journal

1. Your day to day activities

2. Your feelings and thoughts

3. Your spiritual experiences

4. The important events in your life

5. Your successes and failures

6. Your children

7. Record humorous experiences

8. Write about the world

9. The truth

Conclusion

I would like to conclude by sharing the words of a master journaler, Spencer W. Kimball. Even though he was busier than most of us, he managed to fill 78 large volumes of personal journals during his life.

He said:

Your journal is your autobiography, so it should be kept carefully. You are unique, and there may be incidents in your experience that are more noble and praiseworthy in their way than those recorded in any other life. There may be a flash of illumination here and a story of faithfulness there; you should truthfully record your real self and not what other people may see in you.

Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available. A journal is the literature of superiority. Each individual can become superior in his own humble life.

What could you do better for your children and your children's children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved?

Some of what you write may be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be rich passages that will be quoted by your posterity.

Get a notebook, my young friends, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.

Thank you.

Garold N. Larson writes on self-mastery and personal development topics. You can find more information at Keys to Personal Development

Asus 1000HE - To the Left, to the Right

As you may know by now, the Asus 1000HE is a pretty powerful netbook for being the fist to use Intel's newest powerful processor for netbooks, the Intel Atom N280. However, there are things about this mini laptop you will surely love. From left to right and top to bottom, here is the rundown of the Asus 1000HE and its features:

To The Left:

* Headphone and microphone jack
* The Kensington lock hole,
* RJ-45,
* Ventilation air vent,

To The Right:

* 4-in-1 memory card reader
* Two USB ports
* VGA ports

On The Front:

* 10-inch display
* Touchpad with buttons
* Chiclet-style keyboard (similar to the Apple Macbook)
* Spacious palm rest
* Built-in microphone below the screen,
* Four quick access buttons above the keyboard (turn on/off display, two programmable application shortcut and change display resolution)
* A 1.3-megapixel webcam (above the screen)

Inside The Netbook:

* Windows XP Operating System
* Pre-installed Skype application
* Capability to play video in High Definition format
* Microsoft Live
* Microsoft Works
* InterVideo DVD XPack
* Microsoft Office Ready

Bottom Of The Netbook:

* Seagate Momentus 5400rpm 160GB SATA hard disk
* ASint 1GB DDR2-667 memory module
* One memory slot
* Six-cell battery (up to 9.5 hours of battery life)

To be in the neighborhood:

You can connect this netbook to the Internet through its WiFi capability. You can also pair it with Bluetooth devices because of its built-in Bluetooth V2.0. The good thing about is that because of its Intel Atom N280, you can actually multi-task on this machine. This netbook is also shipped with a Recovery CD, and Drivers and Utilities.

You can find more exciting information on the ASUS 1000HE on this website http://asus1000he.com

Causes Of Data Loss And Storage Devices Damage

There are a lot of storage devices used to store data but the most common used ones are the CDs, DVDs, memory cards, memory sticks and undoubtedly the hard drives. All these storage devices have on major flaw in common, they are not infallible and this means that the data stored on them can be lost or damaged through a number of unforeseen failures. Fortunately, there are companies that employ data recovery specialists that can recover your data by using special techniques, software and tools. Data recovery can sometimes be performed by the user of the damaged device by using software but there is a high risk of failure that can result in permanently erased data or damaged storage devices.

There are a number of conditions that can cause a storage device failure and they include heat, water, impacts and power interruptions. Other causes can be viruses.

Heat damage will usually be caused by fire but in the case of electronic devices and storage media, overheated equipment is the cause in most cases. For instance, in room with an ambient temperature that is too high, the air cushion thickness will be reduced by the air pressure. The hard drive heads might touch the recording plate and data will be damaged or lost.

In the case of hard drives, this kind of damage can also be caused by physical shocks or high vibration levels.

Most drives, but not all, have a seal that goes around the sides of the drive. If the seal is broken, the drive if prone to environmental contamination. The air is not very clean and with a damaged seal, particles from the air can grind the recording plate generating corruption or lost data.

If a hard drive is wet, water damage can occur even if it is turned off. Water is corrosive and will damage the metals found inside the hard drive generating microscopic pitting.

Data recovery specialists have both the required skills and the resources to perform a successful data recovery operation. This ensures a good chance that if you experience any data loss you can recover the data, be it sentimental data or business related information. The best advice is to keep a backup of the data that is important to you, this way you can avoid the expense of data recovery. If a backup is not available, expert services provided by data recovery specialists is a must.

Unirecovery Data Recovery specialists will provide a great recuperation success rate and are probably the best Data Recovery London service, Data Recovery professionals are waiting to help you.

Learning to Save Money

Saving money is at the heart of all of your financial goals. Want to get out of debt? Want to save for retirement? Want to just make ends meet each month?

You are going to have to learn to save money. It can be hard to learn, but is actually quite easy once you get the hang of it. Here are a few tips for getting started.

First, you have to start organizing your finances. This will help you in seeing your true financial situation. How will you be able to get out of debt if you don't know how much debt you have? How can you save if you don't know what you are spending? Gather all of your financial documents and calculate what your monthly bills are. Take the time to create a budget. Be honest and include everything -- otherwise your budget won't work.

In order to truly budget, you are going to have to know what you spend each month. This helps you see where all the money is slipping out. You can use a computer and personal financial software or a small notebook. The key is to write down every penny you spend. This sounds time consuming, but can be a lot easier if you simply get receipts for every purchase. Then write them down every couple of days. Anything you don't get a receipt for you will need to write down immediately.

Now the savings begin. You look at what you are spending and see where you can cut things. You may need to be extreme and cut out everything but the necessities. Satellite TV and cable can go. You can reduce your cell phone plan and use it for emergencies only. You can look for ways to reduce your utilities and grocery bills. If you are buying coffee each morning, stop buying it and make it at home instead.

If you have your paycheck direct deposited into your account, have your employer split it and deposit a portion into your savings. This can be $10 or $200. It doesn't matter. The idea is to start saving money. When it is automatically put in your savings and you never see it, it becomes quite easy to forget about it. If you get a raise, have the amount of the raise put in your savings each month. When you never see the money, you learn to live without it. It is the easiest way to save.

If you want to protect your budget from disruptions, you need to start a savings account that will handle your annual expenses. These are the things that don't come due on a monthly basis. You need to save for Christmas, holiday spending, birthdays, annual insurance premiums, property taxes and other annual events. By saving this amount, you won't stretch your budget beyond its limits later.

With the same idea in mind, you should start contributing something towards an emergency fund. You never know when something will break down. When it does, it usually puts you in a financial pickle. You can avoid the stress to yourself and your finances by having an emergency fund. Most financial advisors recommend that you have at least three months of expenses in the fund. Don't let this discourage you. Put anything you can in there. Even if it isn't a full month's worth, it will help out in an emergency.

This is ironic. One of the best ways to save money is to get out of debt. And that is why you start saving money in the first place. So I guess you could say that by getting out of debt you can save even more money. Think of how much you are paying in interest. That amount could be going into your savings and earning you interest. Instead of paying a lender, the bank could be paying you. It is important to get your debt paid off first, then work on your savings.

Don't focus on trying to save a certain percentage of your income unless that goal drives you to save. The key in the beginning is to save as much as possible. Have goals that you are working towards. Budget wisely and make saving a habit. It will pay off in the long run.

Martin Lukac represents RateTake Refinance Rate marketplace. RateTake matches consumers with multiple lenders offering low rates. Got too much credit debt? Get Debt Help and you'd be surprised what we can do together.