Boy am I glad these are anonymous.

The current model when I reflect on my thoughts:
C: Positive diagnosis of Herpes in 2016
T: I am damaged and gross. (need to quarantine myself from others)
F: disgusted, assexual
A: stopped dating, or pursuing sex to avoid telling people
R: Single for 3 years

Intentional Model that I create with my badass brain
C: Positive diagnosis of Herpes in 2016
T (???????)
F: Confident, Sexy
A: Have a ‘no big deal’ discussion about Herpes
R: Long term committed romantic & sexual relationship

I am perfectly happy to keep doing this model work until I find the thought. It has taken me months to fill in the A and R lines. I wonder, in the meantime, if you would be willing to help me with some bridging thoughts? To take these negative thoughts and at least get them neutral? I have heard some coaches recommending keeping the thought but adding to it… so something like “Herpes is “gross” (vs. *I am gross*)… but so are a lot of things about bodies” and I hear some coaches recommending more generalized statements that are neutral, something like:
“People develop viruses all the time, it’s just part of the human experience. I am human”
or sometimes looking for a positive thing within the situation you are having negative feelings about, like:
“Boy am I grateful that I got all the way into my thirties before this popped up, I’ve had a pretty exciting sex life”

Any feedback? Thank you . Y’all are great.