Read it.

Read it again.

I am not your stress ball.

Now say it.

"I am not your stress ball."

Say it again.

"I am not your stress ball."

Louder.

"I am not your stress ball."

Feels good doesn't it?

Oh...

Does it not?

Then keep reading it. Feel it. Connect to it. Say it until it becomes comfortable.

You see sometimes we have been so used to allowing ourselves to take on, and try to fix, the stresses of others that it feels less comfortable to not allow them! Sometimes we are so afraid of the conflict that might come from not allowing them we just take them on anyway, even by the time we have gained the consciousness that it's actually not comfortable for us.

But we all start somewhere.

At one point we didn't take on the stresses of others. It doesn't matter if we started to do it because depression or PTSD or another form of mental illness began to distort our view of ourselves. It doesn't matter if the methods of our parents - or the lack of them - pushed us into a conflict averse state. It doesn't matter if an abusive relationship of some sort crushed our self esteem. It doesn't matter if we've only just noticed this trait emerging in ourselves and wonder why we do it.

It does matter that we don't ignore it. That little uneasy feeling you get when you question that thing you agreed to, or didn't speak up about, or are dreading later, is a tiny bit of strength willing you to make a better decision for yourself. That tiny bit of strength is willing you to use it, to positively reinforce it, to build on your prioritising yourself.

That prioritising yourself is one of the hardest yet most beneficial things you can do for yourself.

Yes, for yourself.

So the next time something or someone is asking of you a little more than is comfortable to give;

Repeat after me.

"I am not your stress ball."

Love

Lolo xx

A Moodscope member.