Category: Reflection

Posted in Challenges, Confessions, Creations, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Care, Self-Talk

I Am More Than

Posted on by SparklyWarTanks

Pushing to a workable perspective means knowing who we are apart from the struggles we face; knowing we are much more than the hardship we experience.

As we progress, we must first declare what we are more than. Whether it’s that one negative thought, that mental health condition, the low self-esteem, or the chronic pain, WE ARE MORE.

We are multifaceted, talented, spectacular warriors that regardless of what we experience, we are still more than and we keep going.

This is what I am more than:

  • I am more than those negative thoughts.
  • I am more than depression.
  • I am more than anxiety.
  • I am more than low self-esteem.
  • I am more than self-doubt.
  • I am more than worrying.
  • I am more than isolation.

Tell me what you are more than.

See it on The Mighty here.

Posted in Creations, Creative Writing, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Mental Health, Potential and Worth, Reflection, Self-Talk

Rite in the Rain: The Waiting Game

Posted on by SparklyWarTanks

Mind is flooded with questions. Ones that I can’t answer. The type that is out of my control. It’s like…how come I haven’t seen any rainbows? Maybe some miracles?
Love?
No?

Just for maybe five seconds, some flowers to represent the “well done.”

I guess I’m just emotionally exhausted.

Adulthood draining me and my subconscious.

A constant cycle of letting myself out to dry after endless tears feel like a thunderstorm.

I’m drenched with the “Whys” and “if.”

In my stomach the lightning of not feeling good enough.
I feel it strike all the way to my chest. Not killing me though but maybe it should.

…Perhaps one day, when I’m not looking, peace will knock at my doorstep ready to move in with me.
The sky will be clear.
The rain passed away.
All simply because I deserve it.
I deserve to be loved.
I deserve to feel peace.
I deserve the bouquet of flowers ready for me.
All because I deserve to be happy too.
…Until then I wait as I sit in the rain.

Posted in Challenges, Confessions, Creations, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Care

8-Day Reflection Card Series Day 8

Posted on by SparklyWarTanks

What are your goals? What do you want to accomplish short term or long term?

Goals are what keep us on track. We set goals to hold ourselves accountable for our time and effort. Goals can be personal, professional, spiritual, etc. Visualize what you want to do and create goals that match that vision. Plan as many short term goals as you need to work toward your bigger vision.

Reminder: Be mindful of your limits and self-care when creating goals. Be realistic. Create as many smaller goals as you need to work toward what you want. It’s also okay to network and talk to others about your vision. Seek help.

To-Do List Reflection

  • Goal 1: Keep self-care a priority.
  1. Make sure to get enough sleep.
  2. Drink tea to calm my nerves and anxiety.
  3. Eat fruits and veggies and keep junk food at a minimum.
  4. Ask for help when needed.
  5. Keep busy and go outside.
  • Goal 2: Creating different avenues of income.
  1. Research different writing and non-writing opportunities.
  2. Plan more Mighty events to host.
  3. Create more online courses.
  4. Sticker shop!
  • Goal 3: Always write!
  1. Create a writing calendar.
  2. Write 2 articles a month.
  3. Write content for SparklyWarTanks at least 3 times a week.
  4. Create new projects.
  5. Keep up with creating activities to post on The Mighty.
Posted in Challenges, Confessions, Creations, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Talk

8-Day Reflection Card Series Day 7

Posted on by SparklyWarTanks

What are you overcoming? What are you resolving within yourself? Is there any progress in parts of you that you wish to improve? What does that progress look like?

In overcoming obstacles or challenges, it’s important to be gentle with yourself and the process. Relief will follow the more comfortable you become with the discomfort of change. Overcoming is the continuous work that comes with adjusting to growth.

Reflection: Of the major obstacles I work on daily, building my self-esteem, improving in confidence, and establishing that I’m important are the top three. I’m constantly working on and overcoming the urge to isolate myself because of these obstacles and I’ve come so far!

Goal: Getting to a place where I don’t hold myself back in any way. I want to be able to exert confidence in a way that reveals the power I know I have.

You can find this reflection card on my Mighty page here.

Posted in Challenges, Confessions, Creations, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Mental Health, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Talk

8-Day Reflection Card Series Day 6

Posted on by SparklyWarTanks

What makes you strong? What have you been working on, building up, becoming better at, good in, and achieving?

Everything you do and continue to do in the process of becoming more of yourself makes you strong. No matter how big or small, your progress is a sign of power and bravery.

Reflection:

My effort makes me strong.

Despite people not understanding me, questioning me, and looking at me different I keep going.

Despite being highly sensitive/an empath, getting easily overwhelmed, feeling tired often, having anxiety, battling depression, I keep trying.

Declaration: With everything I am and all that I see myself becoming, I will continue to put in constant effort.

See this card on my Mighty Page here.

Posted in Challenges, Confessions, Creations, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Mental Health, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Talk

8-Day Reflection Card Series Day 5

Posted on by SparklyWarTanks

What do you see yourself becoming? What is your overall vision? What does a constant state of healing or thriving look like for you?

To have goals means to see an outcome or idea come to life. Ideally, if you can craft what success would look like for you, how would you describe it? Create the image of what you want to accomplish then start becoming more and more of what that success is for you.

Reflection:

When I think of success, I think of who I want to be, and what I want to become. Being able to network, open up, and communicate with others is an important aspect of my vision of success. In order to get my creative vision flourishing, speaking with others and gaining different types of resources is important.

Success for me is also self-awareness. Self-awareness is my main tool for healing. The more I know me, the more I’m able to gain control and feel how I want to feel.

Goal/Affirmation: I am who my own purpose and I will work toward becoming successful in the ways that fit me.

Posted in Challenges, Confessions, Creations, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Care, Self-Talk

8-Day Reflection Card Series Day 4

Posted on by SparklyWarTanks

Whether we believe it or not we are progressing! With every goal we achieve, no matter how small, or every time we do something we didn’t think we could, we are becoming better.

Better can mean more aware, more accessible, or even an increase in willingness. With each step, we are becoming better at what helps us.

Reflection:

Calmness is the ultimate mental space I wish to be in at all times. With anxiety and depression, it’s difficult to calm myself, especially during an emotional downward spiral. Each time I’m able to calm myself, I’m learning to take control of every moment.

Affirmation: With every breath, I have the choice to remain in a constant state of calmness.

You can find this reflection card on my Mighty page here.

Posted in Challenges, Confessions, Creations, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Mental Health, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Care, Self-Talk

8-Day Reflection Card Series Day 3

Posted on by SparklyWarTanks

What is something you are working on in terms of feeling fulfilled?

One of the greatest feelings is knowing you are continuously working toward something. Whether professionally or personally, feeling and doing your best is important.

Now that we’ve reflected on struggles vs. things we’re good at that can help us cope, what do we want to work on? What are our next steps to getting to a place where we want to be mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.?

Reflection

Working on finding worth and value in myself is my main goal for this year. Whether it’s being proud of myself or not taking it personally when things don’t work out the way I planned, I will still know that I have value and worth.

The more I see myself as worthy of success and peace, the easier it will be to realize my intrinsic value.

Affirmation: I am filled with value and worth. I accept and love myself.

Posted in Challenges, Confessions, Creations, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Mental Health, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Care, Self-Talk

Introduction: 8-Day Reflection Card Series Day 1

Posted on by SparklyWarTanks

For the next 8-days, I will be sharing prompts in my Reflection Card series. Each day will feature one card with a two-part fill-in statement of reflection: the first part being your name and second a reflection/confession.

Approaching the fill-ins are your choice. What you feel you need to reflect and come to terms with, you can place in the blanks. Whether you want to reflect on your mental health, past, present, or goals will guide your responses.

The first card is on struggles. What do you struggle with professionally, emotionally, personally, or spiritually? What do you want to improve?

Be open and honest with yourself about what you struggle with. Coming to terms with your struggles can be tough, but it can also open the door for self-awareness and moving forward.

Be gentle with yourself and your realizations.

My Reflection:

As an adult, coming to terms with my struggles is difficult. For this card, I will confess to struggling to let go and forgive others. Although for some, not being able to forgive or let go affects how they interact with others, for me, it’s the opposite, I blame myself. Ever heard the phrase “Hurt people, hurt people,” for me it’s “hurt people hurt/blame themselves.”

Next steps:

Moving forward in realizing I blame myself for the people that hurt me leaving it hard to forgive, I will work toward healing those wounds within myself. I will be content with not getting an apology and forgiving myself for carrying those burdens.

I will move forward with peace.

I will begin to let the pain go. Let it disappear. I will not carry this around anymore.

Posted in Confessions, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Making Sense Analysis, Mental Health, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Care, What Just Happened: Personal Anecdotes

Breaking From Trauma: Accepting Split Pockets of Peace

Posted on by SparklyWarTanks

The Split Second

A week ago I sat at the edge of my bed and noticed a sensation I forgot I had the ability to feel. While coming to terms with the symptoms of my anxiety and basking in its reality for most of three years, I hadn’t felt a day that didn’t consist of nausea or worry. I haven’t felt nauseous for two weeks now. I recalled the sensations of calmness and suddenly didn’t understand what to think. Feeling okay felt strange and alien.

Being in a constant state of panic, worry, or fear became how I lived for years leaving calmness and peace strangers in a barren abyss. No thoughts resided in my head, my body felt rejuvenated from a full nights rest, and an overwhelming desire to get some work done filled me with energy. This is what it feels like to be okay, to be ready to take on the day. I didn’t think I could feel like this again.

Recollections

Although this year continuously has torn me to pieces, I didn’t realize the amount of effort I put into dragging myself out of countless depressive moments. Whether it was getting out of bed, not sleeping in, giving myself a bedtime and writing/career goals, eating more fruits and less bread and sugar, or even choosing to separate myself from thinking about situations I cannot control I became unconsciously active in my desire to feel better. Physical aches and pains have plagued this years list of what nows, but learning to not overthink is my new habit of choice.

Despite finding myself in really low moments and contrary to what I expected to become of me by this point, I recall several split moments of peace like the one mentioned above. Pockets of rainbows I would call them.

Accepting and Welcoming Peace

Confused by how I could possibly see or feel pockets of peace in arguably the worst year yet, it’s only fair to give myself some credit. Fear of leaving my trauma behind brought up some old feelings following the pockets of peace, allowing me to realize the comfort I sat in when it came to my anxiety and depression.

I’m used to feeling anxious and depressed. I don’t know what it is to not feel constantly overwhelmed with everything. Living and existing in a state of uneasy chaos is how I know to survive. I learned to live like this, who am I without it?

Witnessing and realizing that I’m able to feel better has caused both panic and peace disrupting the old state of chaotic homeostasis (if that makes any sense). I found myself having nightmares almost every night filled with both obvious and hidden messages. I’ve also recently become aware of my shadow and toxic characteristics, making me aware and awake when it comes to how I interact with others.

Now, because of all that’s happened, I’m able to gain control and pull myself to a more stabilized consciousness quicker than before. Both bizarre and contradicting as it seems, I’ve always thrived in a state of turmoil, it would only make sense for the key to my healing to lie in my darkest moments.

What Now?

Aware that I’m in another phase of transformation like in my college years, I’m open and accepting of something new to come. Despite the on and off nature of these pockets of peace, I know I’m able to gain control of my mental wellness more than believed before.

I’m both scared and excited to continue to take on the beast that is overcoming my trauma and will not give up knowing I can and will.