Street Signs of Life

As imperfect humans, we are all forgetful from time to time. To help us, we create methods and ways of reminding ourselves daily of tasks that we need to get done. We use everything from sticky notes, to-do-lists, reminders on our phones that pop up, alarms and more. But we can use these methods for other reminders as well.

Previously I wrote an article on the importance of an affirmation journal and why affirmations are important in general. At times I can never remember the affirmations that I want to tell myself on a daily basis unless I pull out my phone and look at my notes or grab my journal and read what I wrote. So I came up with a better system.

Recently I have been really struggling with confidence, self worth and depression so I knew that I needed to get more strict with actually telling myself daily affirmations to help me through my bad days.

Ever since I was little I loved to write, color and draw. To this day, I still find it cathartic and something that I enjoy doing in the little spare time that I have. So, I decided to make a little project for myself by combining my daily reminders, affirmations and love for writing and drawing.

I started writing down short affirmations that I want to tell myself daily that will specifically help with my personal issues. I came up with a short list of about 12 affirmations total. Next, I found plain white post-it notes and I grabbed my favorite felt tip, colored pens.

Each post-it would have a single affirmation on it. Instead of just writing in normal print, I decided to teach myself fun lettering to make each note unique and fun to read since I will be reading and seeing them daily and need to keep my attention on them. Pinterest always has some great ideas and tutorials, so I decided to look there. Once all my affirmations were drawn and written out, I grabbed some tape and explored walls and objects in my apartment that I see, touch or are near the most. This included the fridge in my kitchen, the lock and light switch by my front door, the bathroom, my medicine cabinet, the wall across from my bed in the bedroom, the tall mirror in my room and of course the bathroom mirror.

I took each affirmation and decided which one is appropriate for each spot. I imagined waking up in the morning and getting ready for work and coming home from a long day to think of which specific affirmation is appropriate in which spot. For example, which ones I need to read while looking in the mirror to check my outfit, which ones I need to concentrate on which I’m brushing my teeth in the bathroom, which one I need to remember while I open the medicine cabinet to grab my medication, which one I need to read while I unlock or lock my front door and more. Everything is planned out.

Some days I don’t necessarily focus hard on or meditate on the posted affirmations that litter the walls of my apartment. At times, while passing by, I subconsciously read it while I am going about tasks or walking around my apartment because it is just there for me to read.

The same way you would read street signs while you are driving down the road, although you aren’t necessarily reading them on purpose, out of habit you still do and somehow they stick in your brain. This is how we as humans learn directions and the locations of certain building or houses. When we pass by something enough and get familiar with it, eventually our brain can recall it to memory and it becomes engrained in our minds. I figured this would be the best way to commit my affirmations to memory and make them my new truth. They are the personal street signs in my life that are reminders of where I want to be and where I am heading in my life course.

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