They are only thoughts.
The Situation
You don't realize those words are just thoughts.
The sentences on the page feel like facts. They are not. They are thoughts — habits of language your mind learned to repeat, usually long before you had any say in the matter.
A thought can be looked at. A thought can be answered. A thought is not a verdict. The simplest, kindest test is this: would you say this sentence to a friend with the same skin, sitting across from you? Almost never. The fact that you would not is the whole opening.
The Solution
Look at them, and pick kinder ones — the words you would give a friend with the same skin.
Take each sentence you wrote down and, beside it, write what you would actually say to a friend whose skin looked like yours today. Not a pep talk. The real, ordinary, kind thing a good friend would say. That second sentence is also available to you. It is not less true than the first one.
