My sponsor had me adopt a gratitude practice early, list three things every day I'm grateful for. Change was slow but it happened as I trained myself to look for good things in life, of which there are very very many!
Does anyone else struggle staying positive? I am so self critical, and it really drags me down. How do you stop negative self talk? How did you learn to love the person you see in the mirror? What drives you to wake up every day and keep going?
My sponsor had me adopt a gratitude practice early, list three things every day I'm grateful for. Change was slow but it happened as I trained myself to look for good things in life, of which there are very very many!
Years ago I read a book called ‘you can heal your life’. I can’t say I’m fully on board with some of the manifestations and beliefs that illness is self created but the sections on self talk and self love I still revisit 20 years on if I am ever feeling low. It literally teaches us to tell ourselves we love ourselves which is hard if you are self critical. Mindfulness can also help, especially some of the positive exercises to love ourselves and others. As my mindfulness teacher said when I did a course ‘it’s not called practice for no reason’ we have to work at it
Gratitude lists daily
Yes, it’s a huge problem for me. My therapist has me write down three things I’m grateful for and three attributes that I like about myself every day. It’s harder than it sounds… and sometimes feels corny or like I’m convincing myself. That said, I am occasionally catching myself appreciating things about life or myself in the moment now that I otherwise would have missed or taken for granted. You start thinking, “oh this would be a good thing to write down later” and so your thinking/self-talk DOES slowly shift.