Love Yourself Sunday: Self Talk

What is self talk?  

Self talk is addressing yourself in a particular manner.  It was what you say to yourself throughout the day that is either negative of positive.

We all self talk, and sometimes I wonder if we realize it.  I know that I am not completely aware of it.  Sometimes I am, and other times, not so much.

In the post, Its All in a Name, I touch on my negative self talk briefly.  I mentioned how I would sometimes call myself fat, and that by calling myself fat, I am fully accepting that adjective as the label the defines who I am.  This type of thinking is not easy to change, and I am a good example of that.  I know it really bothers Jason when I ask things like, "Do I look fat in this?"

What am I getting at?

How we look in a particular outfit is neither here, nor there.  That is a superficial expression of self love.  It is only seeing the material being, rather than an eternal being created in the image of God.

Let that sink in.

We are all created in the image of God.  I'll say it again.  We are all created in the image of God!

Would God create something to resemble Him that he thought was worthless?

I don't think so... no, I know so.  After all, He is all knowing, powerful, patient, loving, kind, and always the same.

With that in mind, I want to steer the topic back to self talk.  I am trying to think about how God feels when I say negative things about myself.  When my children say negative things about themselves, it makes me feel terrible.

Little H (child #2) one day said, "I can't run fast, because I'm fat." (She is barely 6, and beautiful).

That broke my heart.  She is not fat!  I wanted to drill it in her that she is not fat!  I wanted to shout it from the roof tops, I wanted to weep over what she had labeled herself with!

But where did she learn it from?

Me.

Not only has my negative self talk had an astounding affect on how I feel about myself, but my children have been picking up on it too.  They have been learning from me, how to be critical of themselves.

So take a look at yourself.  Are you saying negative things about yourself that others are hearing?  Are they internalizing it?  Are they using that as an example of how to think about themselves?

I know that God does not want us to see ourselves in such a negative light.  We just have to change where the light is coming from.  No one is perfect, so we have to remember to be patient with ourselves (this is something that I am really REALLY learning right now).

It is hard to change over night, but we can start small, and make a small change everyday.

I am posing a 3 step challenge:  I will do this too.

1. In the morning, you are to look in the mirror at yourself.  I mean really look.  Focus on nothing else but you, and tell yourself one positive thing.  Say it until you feel silly.  Say it until you smile.  Sing it!  Chant it!  Say it however you need to, in order to make it sink in.
2. Kneel down and pray about whatever you feel like praying about.  I know that God listens to our prayers, and I have had many conversations with Him.  There have been many times when I have just knelt down and wept like a little girl crying to her daddy.  I ALWAYS feel better.
3. Put on some calm, uplifting, thought provoking music, and go about your day!

Do this every day for this whole week.  Then let me know how it went.  On my next Love Yourself Sunday post, I will report on my experience!

Choose to Love Yourself TODAY, because I love you!

Happy losing!

Evelyn