25 Things I Can Now Do

1. See myself in the mirror and smile.

2. Greet others with eye contact and a genuine smile.

3. Think about maybe eating in the staff lounge versus alone.

4. Be more intimate with my husband versus hiding in sweat pants.

5. Feel gratitude for my home, vehicle, job, and family.

6. Wake up earlier and make juice from the juicer, spend more time doing things I love versus hiding my head in the covers hating my life.

7. Feel the connection to a higher power and feel calm during prayer and meditation.

8. Have less anxiety about social situations, knowing that I will be okay.

9. More confidence in my appearance and interactions with others, I’m not constantly second-guessing what I said or didn’t say.

10. Less hiding in my bed and avoiding life.

11. Fewer feelings of melancholy and darkness, more desire to find the light.

12. More empathy for others.

13. I’m not as pissed off at people’s cheerful demeanors.

14. I am able to see and accept gratitude in others whereas before it made me roll my eyes.

15. I can process my thoughts better as I don’t have a dark cloud looming over my head

16. I can look forward to the future and not feel impending doom at all times.

17. I can feel more hopeful and less defeated in my life situations.

18. I can look around and see the sun and beauty around me versus feeling numb and only seeing gray.

19. I can stop self-medicating and start to feel my feelings without needing to mask their strength.

20. I can stop feeling like my life was at a dead-end, catastrophizing and thinking of the worst-case scenario in every situation.

21. I can know that I am not alone and many others have had to seek help for anxiety and depression.

22. I can thank my body for carrying me and my brain for trying to protect me all of these years keeping me stuck in survival mode.

23. I can begin to release my traumas with a safe and trusted person and not feel like I will never get healthy or better.

24. I can grieve and let go without being buried alive with my feelings.

25. I can find the positive in most any situation when my brain is not covered in a dark cloud unable to see my way out of it.