From Warm & Tote: (click for full article)
"If you had a brain, you'd take it out and play with it" were my father's words to me as I was growing up. This wasn't a compliment or encouragement of my questioning nature. Through my early years, my self-esteem was low for a neuro-typical child. As Yoda would say, "Devastated, I was, from years of deep emotional abuse." After finally realizing that I couldn't be "that bad", in my early 30's I sought help through a self-esteem building group. We shared stories and together began the slow road of healing by using certain, carefully chosen techniques.
The most powerful tool was the use of positive affirmations. I was assigned "I am lovable, capable and beautiful", and given instructions to say it ten times a day. At first I almost gagged. How could I lie like that to myself? A dear friend, also in the group, gave me a Teddy Bear we appropriately named L.C.B., short for Lovable, Capable and Beautiful. Some days I would hold that Teddy Bear for dear life. To this day, I consider him my savior. Finally, after weeks of persistence with using the affirmation, I began to believe that it had merit. Looking back, I now realize how much that affirmation really did for me.
"If you had a brain, you'd take it out and play with it" were my father's words to me as I was growing up. This wasn't a compliment or encouragement of my questioning nature. Through my early years, my self-esteem was low for a neuro-typical child. As Yoda would say, "Devastated, I was, from years of deep emotional abuse." After finally realizing that I couldn't be "that bad", in my early 30's I sought help through a self-esteem building group. We shared stories and together began the slow road of healing by using certain, carefully chosen techniques.
The most powerful tool was the use of positive affirmations. I was assigned "I am lovable, capable and beautiful", and given instructions to say it ten times a day. At first I almost gagged. How could I lie like that to myself? A dear friend, also in the group, gave me a Teddy Bear we appropriately named L.C.B., short for Lovable, Capable and Beautiful. Some days I would hold that Teddy Bear for dear life. To this day, I consider him my savior. Finally, after weeks of persistence with using the affirmation, I began to believe that it had merit. Looking back, I now realize how much that affirmation really did for me.
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