Spiritual Affirmations by Philip St. Romain

Spiritual Affirmations

1. If God is for me, who can be against me?
2. I am lovable and acceptable because I exist – because God is choosing to love me into existence in this now-moment, and “God doesn’t make junk.
3. I know how to do many things that can contribute to the improvement of the human community. If I do not share my giftedness, it will be missed by others.
4. I do not judge myself as a bad person when I make mistakes or deviate from a social norm.
5. I do not judge myself as a bad person when I hut another with my behavior. I take responsibility for my behavior and make amends.
6. It is unreasonable for me to expect perfection of myself. I will do the best I can, and that is all that God expects.
7. I accept my physical appearance. If others reject me on t his basis, it is not because I am unlovable but because they are comparing my appearance to a social norm propagated largely by the media.
8. I accept all of my feelings, pleasant and unpleasant, knowing that I am more than my feelings. Feelings come and go. They do not reveal to me my true worth as a person. I do not define myself on the basis of my feelings but on my faith-convictions.
9. Other people have judged me and mistreated me, and this has affected my view of myself. I am more than what others have told me I am, so I do not accept their judgments of me.
10. I forgive everyone everything they have done that has hurt me, for I know that holding on to hurt and resentment will keep me from growing to be the person God created me to be.
11. I take responsibility for meeting my own needs in a moral and loving matter. It is not someone else’s responsibility to meet my needs.
12. I am in doubt about my beauty and worth. I ask God to help me to see and know myself as God sees and knows me.
13. Right now, I am where I should be in life. I have learned many lessons and have many more to learn. That is life: learning and growing. It is good for me to be here in life.
14. Right now, I have everything I need to be as happy as it is possible for me to be in this life. Therefore, I renounce the idea that my present circumstances are inadequate for happiness, that I need more of something or another, or that I need less of something or another. Happiness is an attitude, not an acquisition. In gratitude to God, I accept myself and my life just as they are.

From Handbook for Spiritual Growth by Philip St. Romain

Books by Philip St. Romain

Personal Bill of Rights by Edmund J. Bourne, PhD

 Personal Bill of Rights

1. I have the right to ask for what I want.
2. I have the right to say no to requests or demands I can’t meet.
3. I have the right to express all of my feelings, positive and negative.
4. I have the right to change my mind.
5. I have the right to make mistakes and not have to be perfect.
6. I have the right to follow my own values and standards.
7. I have the right to say no to anything when I feel I am not ready, it is unsafe, or it violates my values.
8. I have the right to determine my own priorities.
9. I have the right not to be responsible for others’ behavior, actions, feelings, or problems.
10. I have the right to expect honesty from others.
11. I have the right to be angry at someone I love,
12. I have the right to be uniquely myself.
13. I have the right to feel scared and say, “I’m afraid.”
14. I have the right to say, “I don’t know.”
15. I have the right not to give excuses or reasons for my behavior.
16. I have the right to make decisions based on my feelings.
17. I have the right to my own needs for personal space and time.
18. I have the right to be playful and frivolous.
19. I have the right to be healthier than those around me.
20. I have the right to be in a non-abusive environment.
21. I have the right to make friends and be comfortable around people.
22. I have the right to change and grow.
23. I have the right to have my needs and wants respected by others.
24. I have the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
25. I have the right to be happy.

From The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne, PhD
Books by Edmund J. Bourne 

Dropping the Label

For the longest time I had PTSD from a bad crash I suffered when I was twelve. It had a profound negative effect on my life. In my late-20s, my therapist at the time diagnosed me with PTSD. No wonder I was an anxious mess of self-hatred! I read  I Can't Get Over It by Aphrodite Matsakis. It explained A LOT. It just explained about everything. It took another five or six years before I finally met up with a psychiatrist and started taking the necessary medications. But up until the time I met the psychiatrist, I tried every relaxation and coping mechanism out there. They just didn't work, but I did try.

Now that I have been taking meds for ten years now and identified my triggers until I was down to one trigger: I startle, jump, swear, get panicy, get angry with sudden loud noises. A few months ago, I was driving along a busy road when I heard a firecracker go off. BOOM! I was so shocked because I thought my entire village was being bombed that I swerved into the oncoming lane. Thankfully I swerved back into my own lane just as fast before getting into a head-on collision. Whew!

I heard two sudden loud noises in the past two weeks and . . .

I just looked around and wondered, "Hm, wonder what that noise was?"

I did NOT jump, I did NOT startle, I did NOT get scared, I did NOT panic, I did NOT assume the world was ending or that I was in danger. My heart did NOT race. I did NOT get angry.

Am I finally healed from PTSD? I think so. I am going to stop telling people in mental health circles that I have PTSD. Besides I keep getting the initials mixed up: PSDT or PDTS, or PSTD.