There are many life lessons learned in school that are often discarded. One of the most important lessons that I learned as a junior high student was to compartmentalize my life. You may be asking: how is something that was learned in junior high school going to help me? The secret lies in organizing your life.
Think back to when you formally transitioned from elementary school to junior high school. You were in a much larger place and were faced with a growing number of teachers who taught different subjects—English, History, Science, Algebra and Latin—each of which required a separate notebook. I learned early in my academic career that I could master these subjects if I applied myself and kept organized. Everything was always (for the most part, anyway) well-organized.
As an adult, I have learned that this same concept can be applied to my existing world. Although my life no longer consists of formal classes, it does consist of unique areas that demand my attention and passion, such as my career, spirituality, family, poetry and finances. As a result, I have transferred this organizational principle from notebooks to journals.
During my trips to Goodwill stores, I have been fortunate to find excellent, inexpensive leather-bound journals, in which I can record successes, as well as failures, to document how I learn and grow from my experiences. I thoroughly enjoy the journals’ rich leather bindings and acid-free parchment paper that receives the ink from fountain pens so well. All of these things cause me to look forward to my time spent journaling.
Visit Goodwill today to find some journals and compartmentalize your life!
Eric Glenn, Sr. is a volunteer with Goodwill. To learn more about available volunteer opportunities, contact Community Engagement Manager Kilby Watson at kilby.watson@goodwillsp.org or (704) 332-0316.
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