Hmmm, I am NOT ugly.  I guess that voice can SHUT UP too!!

STUPID

Ummm…NO I am NOT!

I am perfectly capable of carrying on an intelligent conversation and learning new things every day.  Making mistakes in my life does not make me stupid either.  Maybe I was young, naive, inexperienced and needed to have experiences in order to learn from them.  Perhaps making me feel stupid made him feel smarter and therefore more in control of me.  I was wrong to believe even once that he ever had a right to belittle me by calling me stupid when I so obviously am NOT!

Stupid?? SHUT UP!!

USELESS

Ok.  There are many things that happen in a life and many choices that are made that if become failures can make us feel useless inside.  I admit I still struggle with this one daily.

I think we just need to understand that life is a journey filled with obstacles and trials and choices that sometimes don’t work out the way we intended.  It only makes us a failure if we let it keep us down afterwards.  If we don’t get back up and try again to do something; anything.

We are all capable of being useful and contributing to our families, homes, friends and society as a whole.

Find and recognize your own gifts and USE them!

I WILL do useful things and therefore NOT feel useless anymore!!

USELESS? SHUT UP!!

INADEQUATE

If anything I do or say helps any friend, family member or even stranger feel better then I was not inadequate. Don’t set goals too hard or unobtainable and then you won’t be able to fail.

Small steps forward and small goals set and reached reap large benefits later.

I am NOT inadequate.  I am capable of giving and loving any of the people in my life with my whole heart.  How could that ever NOT be enough??

INADEQUATE?? Laughable! SHUT UP!!

I will always struggle with these voices in moments of weakness especially but, I will also work harder to break myself of the habit of carrying around my negatives and beating myself over the head with them.

Positive affirmations every day can go a long way towards breaking down the dark, black, hateful voices of negativity.  We are our own worst critics after all.