Right now is a difficult time for many people for many reasons. It’s hard (for me, maybe also for you) to know that there isn’t really anything you can do that will make it better right away.
Sometimes that means feeling useless, worthless, and incompetent, especially if you, like me, also struggle with mental illness.
Something I occasionally find useful in these moments is to remind myself that there are good things about me that I like, and that they are true even if I mess up and even if the world sucks and even if I feel like I’m not doing “enough.”
Speaking positively about yourself can be hard, especially for women (who are often socialized to not “brag” and to be “humble”) and especially for people with mental illnesses (who can have difficulty earnestly believing that they have any positive qualities at all). I am both of these things, so this is an exercise I especially appreciate.
Here are some things I like about myself:
- writing skills
- ability to set boundaries clearly with people
- resourcefulness
- physical strength
- ability to see the good in things/people I otherwise dislike and to acknowledge the bad in things/people I otherwise like
- ability to care about issues even in the absence of a strong emotional response to them
- comfort with apologizing
- comfort with just sitting and listening to people without judging, offering advice, getting overwhelmed, or turning the conversation back to myself
- willingness to deal with the negative emotions that being polyamorous sometimes brings up, as well as ability to experience compersion for my partners
- style. See below for evidence. :)
What do you like about yourself?
