Letter To Your Past Self

A free mental health worksheet [PDF]

At Bearable, we speak with thousands of people with chronic physical and mental health conditions every year. One of the topics that comes up most frequently is acceptance and/or grief. That is, grieving your past self and coming to terms with the version of you who lives with a chronic illness. Saying goodbye to aspects of the life you’d envisioned and welcoming a different future for yourself. This isn’t an easy journey to go on but to help with the process we adapted a commonly used tool for processing trauma; writing a letter to your past self.

- Digital Download .zip file
- Printable PDF format
- US Letter & A4 size
- Minimal design
- Infinite reprints

Preparing to write a Letter To Your Past Self

You might be thinking; why do I need a worksheet to help me to write a letter to myself? However, the steps before and after writing the letter are just as important as the letter itself.

1. Check in with yourself.
  Before writing a letter to your younger self, it’s important to make sure that you’re in the right headspace. Revisiting past traumas can be triggering and so it’s okay if now’s not the right time for you to use this worksheet.
2. Find some inspiration.
  One of the reasons that we created this worksheet is because we read similar letters from members of the chronic illness community. You might find it helpful to read some examples before writing your own letter.
3. Set the scene.
  Taking the time to think back on who you were before life with a chronic illness can help you to empathise with and get a clearer sense of the version of yourself that you’re writing too.

💡 Note. the examples shown on this page are from my own Letter to my past self.

Writing a Letter To Your Past Self

It can feel difficult to know where to begin. Staring at a blank page can feel daunting. However, we’ve found that there are some things that can help.

- Your Achievements.
  As a person with a chronic illness you’ve more than likely overcome some big challenges. Take the time to share some of these achievements with your younger self and give them something to be proud of.
- Life Lessons.
  Living with a chronic illness forces you to learn a lot about yourself as well as how to navigate the world. What are the most valuable lessons you’ve learned that you wish your younger self had known sooner?
- Compassion.
  You’ve been through a lot and that deserves to be acknowledged. Give your your younger self some reassurance and support. Let them know that they’re going to be okay even when things get hard.
- Forgiveness.
  Chronic illness can be a minefield and you might not always look back on your past decisions in a positive way. This is the perfect opportunity to forgive your younger self for the mistakes they’re going to make one day.

Learning from your Letter To Your Past Self

Once you’ve finished writing your letter it’s crucial to make a note of what you learned and felt during the experience. Within our worksheet, you’ll be guided through these steps so that you can outline some next steps for yourself.

1. Reflections.
  Making a note of the realisations and new ideas you had while writing your letter can help to reframe how you think about yourself and your chronic illness.
2. Growth.
  Based on your realisations you might be able to outline some lessons, goals, or ideas for e.g. being kinder to yourself.
3. Feelings.
  You might also find it helpful to make a note of how you felt during the process of writing your letter. Perhaps there were some thoughts or questions that you’d like to discuss with your doctor or therapist.

Why write a Letter to your past self?

1. Self-Reflection and Perspective. Writing to your past self helps you reflect on how far you’ve come in managing your illness. It’s an opportunity to recognize the strength you’ve gained and the challenges you’ve overcome, which may not always be obvious in day-to-day life.
2. Emotional Release. Chronic illness can cause feelings of frustration, fear, and grief over the life you expected to have. Writing a letter lets you express those emotions in a healthy way, releasing pent-up feelings that might otherwise weigh you down.
3. Empathy and Compassion. Looking back, you might realise you were too hard on yourself during certain stages of your illness. It’s a way to extend the empathy to your past self that you would offer a friend going through similar struggles.
4. Reframing Your Story. Chronic illness often disrupts life plans, and this can feel disempowering. Writing to your past self can help you reframe your journey, focusing on resilience, adaptability, and the wisdom you’ve gained. It allows you to shift the narrative from loss to growth.
5. Healing Old Wounds. Many people with chronic illnesses struggle with the “what-ifs”—thinking about the life they had before their condition. Writing to your past self can serve as a way to reconcile those feelings and close chapters that feel unfinished.
6. Setting the Stage for Future Growth. This exercise not only honours your past but also lays a foundation for the future. Acknowledging your past self’s struggles helps you identify what’s important moving forward, fostering a sense of hope and resilience.

About our Letter To Your Past Self

What’s unique about our Letter to your past self worksheet? We’re glad you asked. We created our own version of this worksheet specifically for people living with chronic illness(es) because:

- We couldn’t find an existing worksheet specifically for people with chronic illness.
- We think this activity could be especially helpful for people with chronic illnesses.
- We wanted to adjust the prompts slightly to better serve the needs of a person writing about chronic illness.
- We wanted to provide examples of letters written by people with chronic illnesses.

That said, we’re still looking into ways to further improve this worksheet. If you have any thoughts or ideas, please let me know by contacting me at jesse@bearable.app

How to download the Letter To Your Past Self worksheet

If the download doesn’t happen automatically, you can follow the instructions below:

1. Click the download button at the top of this page.
2. You’ll be redirected to a folder on Google Drive.
3. Click on the ‘Letter To Past Self Worksheet _ Bearable’ folder.
4. Then tap the download arrow in the top-right-hand corner of the screen.
5. Once you’ve downloaded the file, double-click it to unzip the folder and view your PDF worksheet templates.

Note. If you’re on a mobile device, you might need to use an app to open the .zip folder after you download it.

👀 Looking for more mental health worksheets?

Bearable is a company founded at operated by people with chronic health conditions for people with chronic health conditions. Even though our app is the number one symptom tracker in the USA and UK (that you can also use for free). We try to create as many free resources as possible for people who need some help managing their health.

You can check out some of our other free resources using the links below.

We couldn’t do this without you. So if you have an idea for a helpful free resource, let us know by getting in touch with jesse@bearable.app