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Yesterday, my journalling streak hit 500 days. I had been counting down from around 450 but wrote recently: "I don't know why I'm fixating on this so much." That I had already kept to it for so long was a significant achievement.

500 is just an arbitrary round number that has no real significance; just a neat and tidy indication of a continued practice that, for once, hasn't fallen by the wayside.

I don't think I've ever done something for 500 consecutive days before – it doesn't sound so much but it's a long time. I wrote this morning that the countdown to 1000 starts here but that's well over another year away. A bit bonkers when you think about it.

Patrick linked to a list of ways to increase/improve your journalling, the first is:

"Give up writing about every day of your life. Seriously, give it up."

While many may not need to journal every day, I find it better to create streaks, to build momentum. If I allow myself the freedom not to do it then I won't; I give myself permission to not journal and the practice dies. One day becomes two, becomes a week, becomes never. If, however, I gamify it then I continue, eager not to break the streak whilst enjoying its longevity.

This list goes on:

"Write about your feelings or your day only when you have something to say."

If there is nothing to say about each day, each precious 24 hours, then it's a sorry state of affairs. Each day is new and different, a fresh opportunity, an experience in its own right. There are always a few words to be found.