It’s Friday and I think that’s a good time for another Affirmations post.
Last week, I talked about using affirmations whenever I’d wake up in the middle of the night and start stressing about dumb stuff I couldn’t control. I really like this approach. Setting my intentions helped me get better sleep, which I desperately needed. But it’s also helped me define myself, and really own my ideas and future plans.
This week, I have a new affirmation. Because, unfortunately, insomnia is kind of a full-time gig. It may ease up at times, but it always seems to lurk in the background, waiting for life’s balance to get ever so slightly out of whack, and then BAM, we’re wide awake at 3 a.m. again for absolutely no good reason.
With that in mind, my new affirmation is: My skills and experience are valuable.
I think as writers, we tend to get caught up in the “I’m not good enough” mindset more often than not. We get sucked into social media posts featuring successful writers and think, “I’m never going to reach that level.” One of my oft-used laments, uttered upon noticing a particularly crappy movie in the on-screen guide, is, “Someone got paid more than I made all of last year to write that screenplay.”
(Yeah, Scorpion King 4, I’m lookin’ at you.)
But it’s easy to forget that we’re pretty awesome. We’ve got SKILLZ. We’ve done stuff. We earned degrees and studied our craft and sat down and wrote something and FINISHED it. Not everyone can do that. We’re special, dang it.
Some say a good offense is the best defense. So, although my sleep hasn’t been too bad, I like to stay ready. That way, when I’m suddenly awake and starting to stress out, I’ll be prepared to remind myself that I’ve got a lot to offer. And what I have to offer is important, desired, and in demand. I didn’t earn that degree, write all those ads and features, and work on all those magazines for nothin’. Those things gave me valuable skills and experience. And I shouldn’t forget that.
What affirmations do you use?