Question 6 - How would you describe yourself?

Hmm...  I suppose I'm struggling hard not to describe myself as a failure.  I've been through a lot.  Losing my job, losing my financial stability, losing my faith in myself to a great extent.  Since last summer, I've been dealing with the feeling that everything I've worked with has slipped away.  It got me caught up in a really ugly cycle where I didn't like myself very much and I was starting to believe my life was just going to continue to spiral.  And I hit rock bottom and it sucked.

But when I was at my lowest, a good friend of mine took notice at just the right time and told me I was one of the strongest women she knew.  I don't know how much I believe it myself, but it's still a statement I've been holding on to in order to remind myself that all these struggles will pass.  At least I hope so.

So, maybe calling myself a failure is more my own fractured thinking.  I know I'm harder on myself than I should be and I hold myself up to a much higher standard than I do other people.  As a result, when things don't turn out exactly as they should for me, I can't handle it. I don't like failure. I don't like making mistakes and I end up punishing myself.  I'm trying to be easier on myself, but it's a very hard thing to learn.  I've found it helpful to try to step outside myself and ask how I would judge someone else vs. how I would judge my own behavior.  That way, I can be a little more forgiving of my faults, rather than getting wrapped up in being mad at myself.  

So, right now I'm going to stop calling myself a failure. I'm going to call myself a new soul with a new start to make my life anything I want it to be.