I treat myself with respect and kindness from today forward.

Self-respect shows up in logistics long before it shows up in feelings. It looks like booking the appointment you have been putting off, eating something at one o'clock, saying no to the Thursday thing you already know you will dread.

None of it feels like an act of love at the time. It feels like admin.

But the mind takes its evidence from behaviour far more readily than from declarations. Treat yourself like someone whose knee should be looked at and whose evening is worth protecting, and the opinion tends to follow the treatment rather than the other way round.