I Have a Decision to Make

I have a big decision to make today.

I was a failed journaler for decades, always buying beautiful new journals I felt sure I’d write in consistently this time. I usually started out okay, but it took only a few weeks for the journal to start collecting dust on my nightstand.

Now, I’m in my eighteenth consecutive year of journaling. So what changed?

I started keeping a five-year journal.

I finally found what worked for me rather than what I thought I should do.

With a five-year journal, I no longer faced a long, blank page that had to be filled. A five-year journal has only six lines for each day, and each page holds memories of that specific day for five consecutive years.

I can fill six lines in five minutes, so it doesn’t take a huge investment of time. Then, once I finished the first year, I could look back and see what had happened exactly 365/366 days before. Amazing!

I began keeping a five-year journal right after Bob and I married in 2005, and I’ve been faithful to it ever since. I’m in the third year of my fourth five-year journal, which I write in every evening before I go to bed.

Back to the big decision I have to make today.

My husband had the idea to write every year in my five-year journal in a different colored ink, so it would be easy to distinguish one year from another.

I thought that was brilliant, so January 1 became a day of decision. What color ink will I commit to for the upcoming year?

I wrote in dark blue in 2021 and red in 2022. This is a year-long commitment, so it takes some thought. What color will I not tire of in the first few months?

My current favorite pen for journal writing is TUL. They come in a wide variety of colors, and I like the smoothness of the gel pen, gliding across the page.

From experience, I found it takes five or six TUL pens to complete a year of writing every day, so I purchased multiple multi-colored packages of pens.

Each January 1, I spread the pens out in front of me and decide on the best color for the upcoming year.

Green? Maybe. Purple? I love purple. It’s my favorite color, but I write in purple daily for my work. Pink? Perhaps. Light blue? Possibly. Black or brown? Too boring.

Lime green, yellow, orange? I’m not sure I could live with those every day for a year.

What do you think? What should be my ink color for 2023?

Bob usually weighs in, but he’s on the golf course today, so I need help.

If you don’t already, I encourage you to start a five-year journal this week, and I invite you to look at those I produce. I have thirteen different colors to choose from, and my journals are sewn rather than glued, so yours will outlive you.

I offer free shipping, and we send out your journal within twenty-four hours of purchase.

And if you buy a five-year journal this week, I’ll send you information about how to use your new journal, two types of five-year journaling, what you might include in your entries, tips for success, and more.

You can start your five-year journal any day of the year, but it’s extra nice to begin in January of the new year.

It’s a quick, easy way to write your life story, and next year, you’ll be so glad you did because the journal will tell you how you spent January 1, 2023.

Pick out your new five-year journal here. Choose from thirteen beautiful colors.