The following prompts are from a Pinterest find from ellduclosblog.
One. Ten things at which I excel: a) writing; b) selling; c) organizing; d) merchandising; e) singing; f) finding good literature; g) finding good film; h) giving; i) wasting time; j) being authentic.
Two. Five physical features I love about myself: a) hair color and texture; b) eye color; c) mouth shape; d) complexion; e) freckles.
Three. Three strongest qualities: a) intelligence; b) tenacity; c) vulnerability.
Four. The vision of my dream life: married with children — preferably boys — and living in a cottage-style garden home on a hillside overlooking the Atlantic ocean (it’s a little more turbulent and interesting) — with an office for writing that has a connected covered balcony or patio with Adirondacks and rockers situated upon it for peace and quiet and pleasure.
Five. Three goals I hope to accomplish by year’s end: a) finish sorting and finding homes for the mass of materials I’ve stored in my closet for the past decades; b) whittle my clothes and accessories to the bare minimum; c) get my accounts current.
Six. Twelve things for which I am thankful: a) Bambam and Shazam; b) sweatshirts; c) wind; d) rain; e) flowers; f) sunshine; g) oceans; h) ice; i) football; j) chocolate; k) turkey; l) Santa Claus.
Seven. Ten positive affirmations: Let’s ignore the fact that in that clause, positive is redundant… a) You is kind; b) You is smart; c) You is important; d) Beautiful girl, you can do hard things; e) Rather I have refined you in the furnace of suffering; f) You are all fair, my love; there is no flaw in you; g) Don’t you dare squander the strength you have earned just because the acquisition of it was painful; those are the most important stories to share; h) I have so many goals and dreams for myself, and not one of them is small; they’re big and wild and full of hope; they require faith and courage and a whole lot of audacity; i) You–the real you–is not an accident… you were not made to be small; j) I want you to see someone who kept showing up again and again even when it was tearing her apart. (Those last four are from Rachel Hollis’ Girl, Wash Your Face, and if you’ve not read it, I implore you to do so.)
Eight. Five of my best personality traits: a) clever; b) tenacious; c) authentic; d) effervescent; e) generous.
Nine. Five ways I can better love myself: a) pay off my debt; b) minimize possessions; c) forgive; d) accept; e) devote more time to pampering myself physically.
Ten. Write out a perfect morning routine: Read the Bible first thing. Whatever follows, follows. Begin each day with the daily bread. I really don’t like to have a schedule or want morning to feel like Groundhog Day.
Eleven. Five things for which I work to forgive: a) failing my parents and brothers; b) neglecting my studies; c) squandering the wealth my maternal grandmother and great aunt bestowed upon me; d) sabotaging relationships, specifically the brief one I had with Adam; e) entertaining darkness.
Twelve. Three actionable steps to take in making dreams reality: a) write more; b) spend less; c) trust God.
Thirteen. What I love most about my life: God doesn’t give up on me; every day He saves me from myself.
Fourteen. Three ways to improve mindset so I love myself more: a) stop drinking; b) start exercising; c) read the Bible.
Fifteen. Write a love letter to yourself: Beautiful girl, you can do hard things.
Sixteen. Write out fifteen compliments to give yourself: a) tenacious; b) resilient; c) tough; d) giving; e) intelligent; f) artistic; g) considerate; h) talented; i) possessing a beautiful voice; j) genuine; k) clever; l) fearless in many respects; m) insightful; n) hopeful despite such adversity; o) adventurous.
Seventeen. What five things have you done for which you are the most proud? a) found the courage to end sexual abuse I incurred in my adolescence; b) quit smoking; c) severed ties with an emotionally and verbally abusive man before things escalated to physical abuse; d) wrote three hundred pages of a manuscript; e) cleaned out my closet.
Eighteen. What bad habits and mindsets do you need to quit? a) swearing; b) reckless spending; c) sabotaging myself in relationships; d) getting physical with men when what I long to know is emotional intimacy — it’s hard to hold my ground when they push boundaries… I’ve never been good at standing up for myself.
Nineteen. What ten things make you the happiest? a) BamBam; b) Shazam; c) the children at the private school where I had volunteered; d) the days I don’t hurt; e) the days I get a solid eight hours of sleep; f) GREAT stories whether they’re told on the screen, in the lyrics of a song or on the pages of a book; g) sitting on the lawn beside the guest house overlooking the monastery grounds in the early days of summer; h) sitting by the lake at sunset; i) the days I’ve written a GOOD scene that needs little to no correction; j) snuggling in my flannel Star Wars sheets and playing Seekers Notes Hidden Mystery.
Twenty. Write a positive advice letter to your future self. You’ve done better than most women would have faced with the same challenges. Buck up, Boo.
Twenty-One. Describe yourself positively in ten words: a) effervescent; b) intelligent; c) talented; d) vulnerable; e) generous; f) empathetic; g) brilliant; h) tenacious; i) resilient; j) creative
Twenty-Two. What’s standing in the way of your happiness, and what can you do to fix that? Myself. I don’t know… I suppose it’d start with forgiveness, but there are things that seem unforgivable. And yes, I know… I’ve confessed them to God, and I believe once you’ve done this, He forgives you, and if He can forgive me, then I should be able to do so. But fathers are supposed to forgive their children. Good ones do, and mine is a GOOD one. I know He has forgiven me. I know this because I’m still alive… if He hadn’t forgiven me, the devil would’ve taken me a long time ago. I know… I KNOW.
Twenty-Three. What five good habits would you like to start next month? a) fasting for three weeks; b) dedicated study of Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be: A Ninety Day Guide to Living the Proverbs 31 Life by Donna Partow; c) reading from the Word every morning; d) stretching daily; e) walking or cycling thirty minutes daily.
Twenty-Four. What five flaws can you accept and how can you look at these flaws in a positive light? a) swearing (I love language, and the foul words are, I think, the best phonetically-constructed things out there); b) keeping an untidy room (chaos breeds creativity); c) being a harsh critic of myself (we cannot improve without knowing where we fail, and I am nothing if not self-aware); d) lack of punctuality (Time is a construct — Hannibal Buress as Kevin Sable in Tag); e) laziness (sometimes when I do nothing of great import, I choose to revitalize my spirit on a subconscious level).
Twenty-Five. Write yourself a thank you letter. Thank you for not letting those fuckers win.
