Helena Sharpe

I am not the type of person to make excuses. I am the type of person to make it work, to find a way.

I am a person who steps up to the challenge. A person who loves to be challenged, who craves it. A challenge is a dare, a call to adventure. When I am pushed by life, I push back. I am grateful for mountains to climb. Without them, I would not grow.

I am stubborn about achieving my goals. I may have to break them down into smaller chunks. I may have to postpone. I may temporarily become discouraged and give up. But eventually, I will get there. I will keep working toward them, however haltingly.

Something is always better than nothing. I may not he able to save $5,000, but I can save $8 by packing a lunch. I may not have time to clean the house, but I can take 5 minutes to clean the toilet before bed. I may not be able to work out 5 days a week, but I can go today, and that’s one. I only have to worry about the one thing I can do right now.

I am not limited by the things I am naturally good at. Most things are skills, not talents. It will be awkward and uncomfortable when I try something new. I may pick up on some things slower than others, but that does not mean it will always be hard. It just takes practice.

The way I feel is important. It tells me what I’m afraid of. It tells me what I’m insecure about. It is not a compass for how I should act.

People are not scary. They will give what they get. If I am warm, they will be warm. If I am sincere, they will be sincere. People are sponges for kindness. I won’t be stingy.

It’s not hard to show people that I love them. I don’t need to have a lot of emotional energy to do so. I’ll just say it. I’ll give them a call even though I feel I have nothing interesting to say. I’ll send them a text that I am thinking about them.

I am a person who can see beauty and value everywhere, in everyone. A person who is too busy being grateful about the big things to be bothered by the little things.

What I do, think, and say matters. It can be an inspiration and an example, or a disgrace and a warning. It can make the world better, or it can make the world worse. And no one is in control of that but me.

I have value to add in this life. I may not always know what that value will look like, how it is useful or beautiful, but I have value. There are good things that I get to do right now. There are even better things that I will someday get to do.

I will work toward intentionality in what I think about. Though it sometimes seems impossible to influence the torrent of thoughts, I know for a fact that it isn’t, because I’ve done it before. Slowly, I will do it more. No matter what is going on in the outside world, I can create a little space in my head. There, I can tell myself good stories.