I journaled a lot before my husband died last summer. Going back and reading them, I found they were always filled with pain and sorrow and such anger.

He was not a good man and his death was a release for me. And I found myself keeping away from journaling because I didn't have all those negative feelings anymore.

Since being diagnosed with PTSD I have been keeping a syptom book and it helps my trauma doc see where I am what kind of grounding techniques we should work on. I am also supposed to keep track of how I follow the grounding techniques but I just started with that.

And SunAndClouds,

I love your idea of a cheer up file! I think I am going to borrow that one.
I've never kept a scrap book before, but I am going to buy one for this. I copied your list and I'm going to add posts and quotes from PC that have a special meaning for me.

Thank you for such a positive, super idea!