When you consider changing something in your life-a relationship, a job, a bad habit, even a fear, the first thoughts that come to mind are almost always negative ones. This is a common reaction, but one you can do something about. Read the following statements carefully, allowing them to sink in. They are positive thoughts that are, no doubt, mroe accurate htan your negative ones-and an enerhy source rather than an energy drain. 
 

1. "No matter where I am right now and how bleak things seem, I did not get here because I was stupid, crazy, or inept. I did what I had to do to get vital needs met, what I learned to do to survive. The coping style I adopted was effective given the limitations I had at time."

2. "I have fewer limitations and more alternatives now. I am not six years old or sixteen; I am an adult with more know-how and resource at my command."

3. "No feeling, be it fear, anxiety or sadness is ever unmanageable or devastating as I imagine it will be. Emotions, no matter how distressing, do not last forever."

4. "I cannot and do not have to be aware and in consciouscontrol 24 hours a day. I do not have to constantly look at myself under a microscope."

5. "No one changes perfectly-or overnight. I may wish that I could discard all my unproductive habits at once, but that is not going to happen. Since aiming for all or nothing is a prescription for disaster, I will take one step at a time."