Last Sunday, we had our second community self care journaling mini-retreat on accessing our inner wisdom. In one of the self care journaling exercises, we journaled to prompts for remembering, "Who am I?" The prompt I chose for this self care journaling exercise was, "I deserve to feel proud of myself for..."
I went into this prompt apprehensive, feeling like I couldn't really say much about it in my custom wellness journal. But I know I have a hard time receiving compliments, so I figured this prompt would be good for me to write about in my custom wellness journal.
First, I listed a few small wins that I had had recently in my custom wellness journal. I felt "meh" writing those out. I had answered the question but didn't feel proud. I felt kind of crummy, like, "well, I guess that's it..."
My mind then wandered in my self care journaling to my bigger life goals - with Zenit, with my art, with my personal life. I sighed and journaled in my custom wellness journal about how I'm NOT where I want to be. I realized I had been feeling not enough in those areas for years now, to the point where I had gotten used to feeling not enough. This was my first time naming that. Damn.
But with this self care journaling prompt guiding me, I looked back and acknowledged, "you know, even though I'm not where I want to be yet, I still deserve to feel proud of where I've come in these areas." And then, I felt the shift.
It's a journey to move from feeling not enough to enough. It's not a light switch. With this self care journaling, I took a step forward in that process. I was gently pushing aside that thought that says, "I'm not enough until I reach the finish line." Through my self care journaling in my custom wellness journal, I was making space for myself to feel enough and proud even while aspiring for more.
That made me wonder, "Hm, where else do I feel not enough? For those areas, can I still find a way to feel proud of myself?" I explored further in my custom wellness journal.
You deserve to feel proud of yourself. Even in those areas where you feel like you're not enough or where you haven't reached where you want to go yet, you still deserve to feel proud of you all your effort you've put in, the progress you've made, the ways you've gown, and how you continue in your journey.
Give it a try for your self care journaling, "I deserve to feel proud of myself for..."
You deserve to feel proud of yourself
Posted by Alina Liao on