Haiku/Affirmation: Motion Pictures

Affirmation: You are worth more than what you think of yourself.

Changing the films that

play inside my thoughts to live

a successful life.

Copyright © 2021 by Bill Holmes.

All rights reserved.

I received the affirmation in the picture above from a recent visit for a complimentary facial at 387 Grooming, an exclusive studio that caters to men for mental wellness and self-care, due to my participation as a volunteer therapist with Black Men Heal, a nonprofit organization that provides individual counseling services to Black men. It resonated with me big time because I’ve had my moments where I thought I wasn’t worthy of living my best life. I developed this line of thinking from degrading comments I’ve heard from others throughout my life from people who I thought were my friends to coworkers talking behind my back to relatives that claimed to be all about family first. Unfortunately, these negative encounters contributed to having depression and/or anxiety, suffering from low self-esteem.

I broke out of this pattern several years ago when I saw the legendary actress Cicely Tyson give an acceptance speech for receiving a Living Legend award at the Black Girls Rock ceremony in 2015. As she shared her thoughts with the audience, Ms. Tyson made a comment that planted a positive seed inside my mind: