What I Want You to Know
Hello Dear One,
Welcome to a rare Sunday letter.
How are you? Really? Take a few deep breaths right here.
I’m running a Self-Compassion Challenge next week and will be giving it my all, so there won’t be a letter on Tuesday.
If you’d like to dive deeper with me and a glorious group you can still sign up free, otherwise I’ll see you next week ✨
I’ve been reflecting on my journey with self-compassion in the run-up and there is something I want you to know. It comes from one of my first letters:
Our inner critic is real–and loud. When I was younger I wrote mean things in my diaries. I was mean about my appearance, my achievements, my worth. It was how I coped. The trouble was, I grew to believe in that version of me. I forgot what was real.
Biology underlines this: our brains are designed to let the negative stick and the good slide. Negative bias is why you can spend ages fussing over one thoughtless comment, compliments forgotten. And neural pathways form out of repetitive thoughts. That’s why we feel like we’ll always be a certain way. But, IT ISN’T TRUE.
Hear that? It really isn’t.
What you say to yourself matters.
What you write down matters.
What you believe about your life matters.
The stories that you tell matter.
Could they be more compassionate? More caring?
Mine often can be – I’ll always be learning –but I’m so proud of how far I’ve come, how I encourage myself to show up, fully, exactly as I am – even when that feels imperfect, scary or messy. How beautiful would the world be if we encouraged more of that?
Thanks for being here and being you.
All love,
Jo x
www.joannebell.org/loveyoualready
https://www.instagram.com/writeandthrive