Words are very powerful weapons. What you tell yourself, you believe. What others tell you, you listen to. At our darkest times, we need to be extremely careful about the company we keep.

It is at these times that the companions of fear, worry, desolation and hopelessness come along and grab as many moments of our waking and sleeping time as possible. They are forever telling us that we will never get through this and that we won't be able to cope with all coming our way. They tell us that we're a burden and everyone would be so much better off without us. They whisper in our ears that we are a failure and a waste of space and that nothing we do will ever change that. We will hear them calling us awful names and remind us that we are a terrible disappointment and a burden to many.

It is at these times that you need to counter these lies, for that is truly what they are, with truths. You need to say them out loud, even when you don't or can't believe them.

It is a little like scales. If all you put onto the scales are negative, destructive words and thoughts, you will end up in even more dangerous water. It is only when you allow yourself to think or say words of life and hope to yourself that you begin to tip the scales in your favour.

We are what we eat and consume. If we consume dark thoughts, our minds will continue to stay in darkness. If we consume healthy, life giving words, light will break in and we will be able to see what we were unable to see in the darkness: things like beauty and hope and possibilities and ways out and through. Then each day will begin to be transformed, not because our circumstances have necessarily changed but because with light we will again be able to discern colour and life and beauty and wonder, all the things we had lost under this heavy blanket of heaviness and darkness we feel trapped under, and from which we believe we will never be free of.

If instead you can begin to believe that you will one day walk free from this terrible darkness and find your way into light and freedom, then this is the greatest thing you can do for yourself. When you hear those companions of fear and forlorn hope and anxiety and darkness tell you that you are worthless, counter those lies with these truths.

You are not alone, that is a lie.

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You live in a world that would be poorer if you were not here.

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You are loved by many, even if it doesn't feel like it.

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You have a special gift given only to you and no one else which you can still share with the world. Just because you haven't yet found your unique voice and song, it doesn't mean that it isn't there.

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You can get through this because there is a strength within you to overcome.

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Your darkest days are behind you. The night is nearly over. The sun will come up tomorrow. It always has done and it always will.

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You have not been abandoned by life. She fights to protect and take care of you if only you would let her.

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You have been fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God.

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You have been given everything you need to get through this and overcome whatever might come to hurt or harm you. There is always a way out and through, you just need to find it.

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You will get through this and one day look back and no longer think of this time, because you will have left where you now inhabit far behind and these terrible times will be no more than a dim and distant memory. Instead, you will have built something of great worth with your life and although you will look back and wonder how you got through, you will also celebrate the truth that you had enormous courage and bravery which were stretched to their limits and yet you overcame and found a way.

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You will be able to tell others that this too will pass and that winter will end and spring really does arrive and stays for years and years and eventually leads into the most glorious of summers.

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You will have been scarred by this time but you will eventually be able to look upon these scars with pride as a way that honours the very many hard and difficult places you journeyed through. One day when you do eventually die, those scars of heroism will be some of the things you value and honour most deeply from your life and you will know that whatever names others might call you, failure will never be one of them. And simply just knowing the courage it took will bring comfort and solace to you.

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So keep going my friend. Take one day at a time. Don't look too far into the future for it might scare you. Aim on only getting through the twenty four hours of tomorrow when you wake up.

See this time ahead as a race against time in which you are going to come out the winner. You won't beat time by staying where you are. You will beat him by running alongside him until he becomes a companion you savour, for you will understand that by staying close to him you have bought yourself the time needed to heal and recover and be restored and find hope once again.

This terrible time will end and then a wonderful time will follow, that I promise. Light will stream back into your life once more and you'll never regret holding onto the hand of time, one day at a time. Time sees a way through, even if you can't. It sees all the adventures you will go on together.

Believe that you are strong enough and wise enough and courageous enough to defeat the voices of doom whispering in your ear. Send them away with a flea in their ear by beginning to transform these words of truth into affirmations you can tell yourself 3 or 4 times a day. At first it might seem to make very little difference, in the same way as eating one healthy meal doesn't automatically make you fit and healthy. However, over time, you will begin to feel lighter and freer of the voices of doom and eventually begin to feel more hopeful. I've written these affirmations as words you might try to say out loud when you are most needing to hear words of life and hope instead of words that speak of death.

I am with you in spirit if not physically and will be praying that you get through this terrible ordeal and find yourself restored in the light of hope from your time in your harbour called hope.
 

 

 

Affirmations

1. I am not alone, that is a lie.

2. I have not been abandoned by life. She fights to protect and take care of me, if only I will let her.

3. I can get through this because there is a strength within me to overcome.

4. There is always a way through and out the other side, even when I can't see it.

5. My darkest days are behind me. The night is nearly over. The sun will come up tomorrow. It always has done and it always will.

6. I am loved by many, even if it doesn't feel like it.

7. I live in a world that would be poorer if I were not here.

8. I have a special gift given only to me and no one else, which I can still share with the world. Just because I haven't yet found my unique voice and song, it doesn't mean that it isn't there.

9. I have been fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God.

10. I have been given everything I need to get through this and overcome whatever might come to hurt or harm me.

11. I will get through this and one day look back and no longer think of this time. I will have left where I now reside far behind me and these terrible times will be no more than a dim and distant memory. Instead, I will have built something of great worth with my life. Although I may look back and wonder how I got through this, I will also be able to celebrate the truth that I had enormous courage and bravery which were stretched to their limits and yet I overcame and found a way.

12. One day I will be able to tell others that this too will pass and that winter will end and spring really does arrive and stays for years and years and eventually leads into the most glorious of summers.

13. I will have been scarred by this time but I will eventually be able to look upon these scars with pride, as a way that honours the very many hard and difficult places I have journeyed through. One day, when I do eventually die, those scars of heroism will be some of the things I will value and honour most deeply from my life. I will know that whatever names others might call me, failure will never be one of them. And simply just knowing the courage it took will bring comfort and solace to me.

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