Thursday, January 13, 2011

Awareness

At the end of October I started seeing a counselor because I knew that I needed to start taking time for myself and taking care of myself, and really just changing what I was focusing on in my life. I really believe that making that decision and putting it into effect and practice I was able to conceive the little miracle that is growing inside of me. After three sessions my counselor said to me "your homework is to come up with new goals because since you've become pregnant, you've achieved all the goals we came up with at your initial meeting." If that's not a confidence booster I don't know what is!!
While I was in my session today my counselor pulled a book off the shelf and opened it up to the "Personal Bill of Rights" and I have to say that after reading it I knew that it is perfect to describe the overall way that I am feeling about myself as a person, and is definitely something that I will forever be working on.

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 or 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.