I found a new tool that so far has helped me get through this weekend’s bought of depression.  I took a stack of post-it notes and wrote compliments & positive I am statements about myself and stuck them on the doorways, windows, mirrors, and fridge of my apartment.  I hung them at eye level so they would be easy to see.  When I view them I’m reminded to compliment myself to combat the negative thoughts about myself.

This is something I thought up on my own because my therapists and friends keep urging me to find compliments about myself.  It is part of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to combat negative thoughts with positive thoughts about oneself.  When I try to compliment myself out loud I run into a wall in my mind, I don’t believe what I am saying.  Writing the compliments took a lot of power because I had to believe what I wrote.  The last note I left to myself was a reminder to not take them down when I don’t believe them.

Reading them helps me feel good about myself.  They remind me that I am a good person, a handsome person, a good cook, a good artist, and that I’m allowed to eat.  There are more, but I can’t seem to find the courage to write them out here.  Maybe I still don’t believe them fully yet.  Believing them is the hardest part of the journey.