My therapist gave me a sheet of paper with a list of legitimate rights. We seem to forget we have these rights sometimes, so I thought I’d share it.
YOUR LEGITIMATE RIGHTS
You have a right to need things from others.
You have a right to put yourself first sometimes.
You have a right to feel and express your emotions or your pain.
You have a right to be the final judge of your beliefs and accept them as legitimate.
You have the right to your opinions and convictions.
You have the right to your experience - even if it’s different from that of other people.
You have a right to protest any treatment or criticism that feels bad to you.
You have a right to negotiate for change.
You have a right to ask for help, emotional support, or anything else you need (even though you may not always get it).
You have a right to say no; saying no doesn’t make you bad or selfish.
You have a right not to justify yourself to others.
You have a right not to take responsibility for someone else’s problem.
You have a right to choose not to respond to a situation.
You have a right, sometimes, to inconvenience or disappoint others.
