NOTE TO SELF

We ALL need to hear a word of encouragement, an affirmation, a piece of good nourishing truth. Too often, our inner self-critic rules the thoughts in our heads, drowning out any attempt of self-love and self-affirmation. And we start to believe the doubts and the fears about who we really are. So, we need to challenge that insecurity and self-doubt and offer ourselves thoughtful REMINDERS.

I love how Elena Brower, author and artist of the journal “Practice You,” writes that her notebooks - or notes to self - “hold medicinal wisdom that reveals and heals negative assumptions, unearths forgotten resources, and provides essential reminders from within my own experiences.” It is so important that we take the time to write loving kindness into our hearts, that we can offer to ourselves the kind of care and attention we all inwardly crave.

Today these words came to me during a session: YOU MATTER. I wanted to spend some meditative time reflecting on these two seemingly simple words in an attempt to let the weight of this message sink in. What a message and, oh, what might be stirring up as you read it. Is it true? Do you believe it? Are there a number of reasons to reject this message?

It is true that often the negative messages we’ve received in our lives are the ones that seem to stick, and it can be really hard to come up with positive words that might define you. So, why not just tell yourself what you need to hear anyways? Maybe it doesn’t feel true, but what if you let it become true the more you write it, read it, and let it imprint on the back of your eyelids so eventually it becomes a part of you. Maybe it will actually become TRUTH. Your truth.

You matter.

YOU. MATTER!

You matter! You matter! You matter!

(How does that feel?)

You are loved. You deserve space. You are worthy. You are special. You are allowed to be selfish. You are valuable. You are strong. You are good.

So, note to self: a simple act of self-kindness can be as simple as writing yourself a little sticky-note love-note. And then revisit it, remember it, and return to it when you become lost again.