Celebrating Our Achievements
I am proud of my achievements. I believe in celebrating them.
I recommend having your own ‘I am proud of...’ moments.
I have just finished facilitating a session of my writing for wellbeing course for Brecon and District Mind. The warm up writing began with ‘I am proud of...’, as a way of counteracting the strong voice of our inner critic telling us that we are rubbish and not good enough.
It was such a wonderful experience to witness these seven strong women celebrate their achievements in writing. The buzzing energy in the room was palpable. Heads lifted. Shoulders back. Chests out. I was honoured to be part of this experience. Fist pump time. There wasn’t an inner critic in the room.
How often do we allow ourselves to step back from our own self-doubt and be proud of what we have achieved in our lives? The things we have done with this ‘one wild and precious life.’ Not often enough in my book. I am an advocate of creating the positive achievement list, to remind ourselves of all the amazing things we’ve actually accomplished, large and small.
So today I am unashamedly going to proclaim to you some of the things I am proud of achieving in my life.
On 5th November, I am celebrating 35 years of sobriety. A huge milestone after 22 years of struggling with alcohol addiction.
On 6th June I celebrated 17 years of solvency. Not bad after struggling for 38 years with debt of quite large proportions at times.
Today I celebrate that I am a strong and powerful woman, who has successfully turned so many crucial corners of healing by surviving and indeed thriving.
Today I live a life of integrity, dignity and self-respect. I am who I am, with all my imperfections and strength.
I am proud of being an author of, ‘Wearing Red, One Woman’s Journey to Sanity.’
Finally, I sat down for 4 years and wrote the story I had to tell the world. Writing my book is one of the best things I’ve done in my life, apart from hooking up with husband Jonny – my ‘Clarence – from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ who earned his wings by helping me recover my sanity.
The childhood sexual abuse trauma, the addictions, the debilitating mood swings, and my all important, remarkable recovery journey – all down on paper, out of my head. I could move forward with my life. Putting the shame behind me, that I had felt for such a large part of my life.
I am proud of being able to give enlightening talks about my life-affirming story. A testimony to the power of releasing secrets, speaking out and being heard.
I am proud that people want to hear and read my story, and that they find it inspiring and invigorating. I know because they tell me so. I love receiving uplifting comments about my book and declarations as to how much it has helped them move forward in their own lives.
I am proud that I am a descendant of the Chief’s Daughter of a Chippewa tribe. My great ,great grandmother Namida was brought to these lands by an English salt trader who became her husband.
She too was a proud, resilient and powerful woman, with a formidable spirit, passion and courage. Somehow she survived this transition to an unknown country. She found a new skin she could inhabit to find her own place against the odds and no doubt a lot of prejudice.
I too am ok in my own skin because I proudly stand on the shoulders of Namida.
Rituals are an excellent way of honouring what we’ve achieved on our life’s travels. They remind us that we are worthy of our own tenderness. Lighting candles, meals with friends and family. Treat days out. These are my ritual ways of celebrating major milestones.
Why don’t you try it. Put pen to paper and make your own ‘I am proud of...’ list and see how you feel afterwards, as you read it out to yourself. I recommend standing up as you do it and you’ll feel your strength fill your body.
Who am I to say all of this? I am me -uniquely different, simply celebrating my achievements.
Author of ‘Wearing Red, One Woman’s Journey to Sanity’
Available from www.browndogbooks.uk (paperback) and www.amazon.co.uk (e-book)