I try very hard not to be negative, not to judge myself only by my struggles and failures, not be my own worst critic and not to beat myself up.
It’s a daily, even hourly battle sometimes! My pattern of self judgement, having a negative perspective of myself and having a powerful self critic has won battles (mostly in my head) for decades. But “listening” to all those comments and owning all the things they have kept me from doing has given me the opportunity to observe and acknowledge those thought patterns and start to replace my judgemental brain’s processes with positive thoughts…like at the end of the day instead of saying “I’m overwhelmed” say “It was a long day but I accomplished some goals and learned a lot about myself…and I’m going to rest now so I can start again tomorrow”. Those specific words don’t always fit, but the perspective and positivity has changed things for me…even if it’s been a busy draining day, I can say things like “I survived another busy day filled with challenges and I look forward to start with them again tomorrow…now I’m going to have some pizza and binge watch some TV” 😉
Just flipped the script, paid attention to how I said things and how they made me feel, and not defeat myself and allow myself to feel overwhelmed. I worked on this for weeks with a life coach to define them and now my main homework from her is simply practice Awareness…paying attention! I even named that inner critic and wrote out lists of what it has said and what it’s kept me from doing…like living in the moment and seeing myself in a positive way. “Grant me the serenity”… it’s that simple (but can be so hard to do!) But I learned a long time ago that some of the most difficult challenges can be the most rewarding …and leave me feeling really good about myself! “…and the wisdom to know that I’m a good person with a kind heart”…yessss
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