We all have bad days when we feel particularly down and lonely. I’ve found that the best way to combat these feelings is to get one step ahead of them with a few simple and personalized mantras or affirmations; but writing an affirmation for yourself can be intimidating—especially if you’re in a season of stress, challenges and feel like you have a cloud of depression hanging over you. Below are a few simple steps you can take toward developing your own personal mantra:

Step 1: Write it down. Write down the negative feeling you’re experiencing in your journal or on a piece of paper. 

Step 2: Then, cross it out. Just draw a simple line through it, essentially cancelling it out as the total untruth that it is. 

Step 3: Now, write a positive truth. Rewrite your first sentence as a positive truth in your life. This is your new mantra! 

Write it on sticky notes and place this in multiple locations that you’ll notice throughout each day (this could be your bathroom mirror, inside the cupboard where you keep your favorite coffee mug, at your desk, or wherever it will be in view), and any time you start telling yourself the lie again, return to the truth statement of love and affirmation. Rinse. Repeat. Done!

*Helpful hint: If you’re in a tough spot where you feel blocked completely from the truth of who you are, find a safe and trusted friend and ask them to help you write your truth statement. I’ve done this for many friends in the past and it is an honor to help them! If you don’t feel like you have a safe person to help you develop your truth mantra, please reach out to me on Instagram or by email. 

Please know that if you are suffering from depression, you don’t have to go it alone. You are loved and cared for and you are worthy of receiving the help you need. If you need a listening ear, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline any time at 1-800-273-TALK.

About Ashley

Ashley Reale is the Founder and Chief Heart Officer of Love Everywhere, a brand on a mission to sprinkle kindness like confetti all over the world, through hidden notes of encouragement. You can follow along on her journey to #shareloveeverywhere on Instagram @shareloveeverywhere. Ashley lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and two children.

Photos by Kristen Frasca (@kristenfrasca)