By the time I was in my second year of high school, I had a shift in mindset—and it wasn’t for the good. I was normally a positive, happy-go-lucky girl who never dared doubt or question God. That all seemed to turn upside down as I went through eighth grade, a challenging year for many reasons.

I know I’ve talked about this time of my life a ton on here because it was so transformative for me and really challenged me in my faith. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today without it. If you’re not familiar with what happened to me then, long story short is that I basically lost all my friends at the end of seventh grade. Some of that was my fault—where I finally decided to let go of some people I no longer seemed compatible with—and some of it wasn’t, like when other friends chose to be part of different groups. Throughout every year in middle school, I had been wanting to grow closer to God, and I finally reached a point where I wanted to be all in with Him, and I wanted people who would push me closer to Him. Well, I didn’t have any of those people so I naturally became alone.

During eighth grade, I really dived in deep with my relationship with God. I had older mentors at my church who were inspiring me constantly, especially with their ministry. I had an opportunity to reach out to someone I thought needed to hear about God, but when I didn’t see God working in their life like I expected (and perhaps as soon as I expected), that kind of marked the beginning of my disillusionment with Him. I felt like I’d prayed and done my part in making this happen, and when it didn’t, a big part of me was crushed, which is something I’m going to cover in the weeks to come—when it seems like God doesn’t save someone you’re ministering to and how to cope with that.

When that happened, and I don’t think it was just because of this—I think it was a combination of all the discouragement I felt in multiple areas of my life—I began doubting Him, which is something I’d never seen the point in doing up to this point. Then, in high school, I remember thinking there would be way more clubs and activities I might be interested in and able to choose from, but I never found a match for any of my interests. I also didn’t get as much of a chance as I thought to branch out and meet new people in other classes, but other grades had their groups very well established, too. Even after people honestly believed I’d make new friends in high school, I didn’t, and I think that was the straw that pushed me over the edge and made me cynical by default. I thought high school was going to be a much better experience: people who behaved crappy in middle school were going to get what they deserved; there would be new people who wanted to make friends; and all around, people would be more mature and I’d have more avenues to explore my interests. Only that very last part was true.

I realized it was going to be a long four years my freshman year if it all seemed the same as eighth grade—not much social interaction, not many activities, not much to look forward to. Just going through the motions day after day because in the big scheme of life, I had to. I had to make it through high school. As a result, this led to a lot of issues with my mental health, which isn’t something I want to spout around to be cliché. But it was hard because I felt like I was already reading or hearing about the “typical” high school experience—having friends, hanging out with people, having boyfriends, going to dances, etc. I didn’t have any of that, really, and I started getting major FOMO and feeling like something was wrong with me/God was against me.

I obviously knew that wasn’t true, and thinking about it now, it seems so obvious: no, God wasn’t against me, but exactly what He promised would happen to His followers was happening to me (2 Timothy 3:12; John 15:18; 1 Peter 4:12-14). However, I just got impatient. I’d made peace with it in eighth grade, but I thought that would be it. I thought things would get better, and when I realized they didn’t seem like they were going to, I was overcome with anxiety. I began thinking this was going to be my life not just in high school but forever—single, alone, unsuccessful (that’s how I felt), bored, under-stimulated, etc.

So I began doubting everything. God, myself, and all the people who tried so faithfully to encourage me. I let my circumstances define my future and my thoughts, and I paid for it. I battled bouts of depression off and on, and my anxiety extended from certain fixations every now and then to absolutely everything. I was obsessive; I couldn’t stop wishing for things and doubting ever getting them. It’s taken me years to undo these patterns of thinking, and even now, they can creep back in if I’m not on my guard against them.

Anyway, I guess this did turn into a long story—are we surprised—but I share this because it was my mindset by the time I was a sophomore. Even though I wrote this prayer before school started, I never revisited it or meditated on it. I had somewhat renewed my mind in the summer, only to let it return to crap that fall. Talking with my mom, I knew I had to do something to change. The way I was thinking wasn’t sustainable. It was killing my joy for absolutely everything and holding me back from growing in my relationship with God. Mom kept telling me I needed to change my attitude, but I thought that was all a bunch of cliché crap and unrealistic for my situation. However, I knew being negative wasn’t working, either, so I finally decided to try and train my brain to think better, even if I didn’t feel like believing these things.

I came up with the following affirmations based on what I was struggling with believing and what I knew was still biblical and God wanted me to believe. I’m going to share them with you, and maybe you can find some that resonate with you. These did help me for a while. Unfortunately, I let my emotions rock me like a boat being tossed by stormy waves. You have to do the work in meditating on the right things, and it takes time to train your brain after training it to doubt, but it can be done. You can’t give up.

Affirmations and Scripture to Train Your Brain to Think Healthy

I will do my best today with whatever I need to do.
Scripture: “‘Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.'” Matthew 6:34 NIV

I will believe that I am going to do great things in my life in the future because God will use me for Him.
Scripture: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 NIV

I will trust God even when I don’t feel like it because He has provided me already with so many blessings and surprises.
Scripture: “‘But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.'” Jeremiah 17:7 NIV

I will believe I am beautiful because confidence is the key and God blessed me with outer beauty that is special to only me.
Scripture: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14 NIV

I will be patient and enjoy each moment.
Scripture: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 NIV

I will not be obsessed with social media and get caught up in comparing myself to illusions as it is a waste of energy that should be redirected on my own life that is more than beautiful and special the way it is.
Scripture: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:15-17 NIV

I will be intentional about being positive because it is freeing me from the exhaustion and probable heart attacks I will have if not, and it honors God.
Scripture: “In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.” Psalm 33:21 NIV

I will believe in my dreams because God knows my desires and He is faithful.
Scripture: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 NIV

I will not find my worth in looks because I’m more than that and every woman has insecurities.
Scripture: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:30 NIV

These are all things I was struggling with at the time—finding purpose and hope in my everyday life, believing for good things in the future, trusting God to deliver for me, putting myself down looks-wise, etc. The concept Mom shared with me from books she’d read that inspired me to do this (and start journaling much more, which I began taking up seriously during this time as well, and it was the best thing I could have done) is called “truth journaling.” What you do is write out your thoughts as you have them, such as “I’m never going to be successful,” and then you actually break that down and refute it with the truth using Scripture to back it up. It doesn’t mean you have to be “in denial” like I thought being positive would be; I was actually in denial with all my negativity. Look at all these Bible verses that show the importance of these positive thoughts!!

You know what’s interesting, too, is that I didn’t even have these Scriptures in mind or part of the note. I wanted to go back and add verses to these affirmations for this post so you’d see I’m not just pulling them off Pinterest or some cheesy “manifestation” articles but that thinking this way actually honors God. I actually had many of these verses in mind to look up as I wrote out each affirmation now, and then I searched for some based on the topic, BUT I knew all of these shifts in mindset were supported by God’s Word. And look how much better that makes them when you can actually see a Bible verse to support them, and you can meditate on that as well! I should have added that component; it would have helped me a lot and potentially saved me from a lot of wrestling back and forth with God.

So, I encourage you to make this part of your life with anything you’re struggling with keeping a positive mindset about right now or anything you’re having trouble trusting God for. It could be something about His character, His promises, His commandments, or a combination of all of them. Right now, I have a card with Hebrews 11:1 printed out taped above my desk because I’ve needed that as I’ve begun my job search, and it does help. Emotions and doubts are always going to be there no matter how spiritually mature you become, but we have the power in His Word to refute them (Ephesians 6:11-13).

Feel free to “steal” any of these affirmations or Bible verses to use for yourself! You can write them somewhere you know you’ll see them, make a wallpaper out of them, or put them on a note on your phone. Just make sure you continually meditate on them. Cultivating a mindset is never a one-and-done thing, as I have learned the hard way. Bible Gateway is a wonderful resource and website I use when finding Scripture because you can search for phrases or topics or certain passages, and it has all the versions, too. Leave a comment letting me know some affirmations and Bible verses that have helped you, and if you need help coming up with some for what you’re struggling with, let me know!