Grateful – This word makes me feel positively happy because I have discovered that I have many things to be grateful for. For so long my life was miserable, and I could see nothing good about it. When I began therapy, my counselor gave me a home work assignment that entailed me finding at least three good things about every situation. Part of what I discovered while doing this exercise is that many of the positive/good things in my life, are things that I am grateful for.

Grown – This word makes me feel positively happy because I can see how much I have grown, and changed over the last few years. It is not just that I have learned how to manage my mental health better, it also has to do with the fact that I am much happier than I have been in many, many years. I look at my old self – remembering how negative, and pessimistic I used to be – and I feel so sad for that person. She was someone who did not value herself, and did not believe she had the right to happiness. I am glad I can recognize who I used to be. It makes me really appreciate how I have grown.

Gentle – This word makes me feel positively happy because I have friends, and family who know when I need to be treated in a gentle manner, and they do. There are some days when I feel as if I am emotionally on the edge, and feel as if I am close to a break down. These are the days when I need gentleness from the people in my life. The fact that they can identify those days, and treat me gently on those days makes me happy because it means I have people in my life who care about me.