I’ve been reading a book called Healing the Shame That Binds You by John Bradshaw. In the chapter “Choosing to Love and Forgive Yourself for Your Mistakes”, he describes a therapeutic device for combating negative self talk. Whenever a client would recount a negative action or thought, he would counter with “Will you love yourself and accept yourself for that?” Now, when I find myself stuck on a particularly painful moment in my own past, I’ll stop myself and ask “Will I love and accept myself for it?” It’s a powerful tool for keeping yourself in the moment. But it also helps turn a negative past into a positive future.