I have been thinking lately about the way that I talk to myself. Self talk. You know-like when you do something that you regret or you forget to pay a bill or take out the trash or send that important email. When it really hits home is when you step on the scale and most of the time you really resent all of the garbage food you ate or workouts you missed. Out of the heart the mouth speaks or so it goes. Would I be that critical to a friend? If a friend or one of my children got on the scale in from of me would I talk to her about how stupid it is to eat junk food or how lazy she is to miss workouts? Especially knowing the hard season she has been through? Never. Absolutely not. So why do I do it to myself? I have conscously caught myself 3 times being down on myself. Each time I chose to remind myself that God wants us to celebrate progress. I caught myself and self-corrected to celebrate progress and small victories, rather than thinking that where I am right now is the end point and facing condemnation. If I were talking to a friend who has been through what I have and knew the seasons I've went through I would show compassion and grace and point out that God is still working in the details. Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate. Jerry Flower Jr. states that God is a God of succession or building on rather that all at once or cycles. I love how mental health and biblical teaching go together. Cycles are meant to be broken, but if to myself I am my biggest obstacle (in my mind) that can never happen and I can't reach the potential that God has for me. I am challenging myself today to be mindful of what seeds I am feeding myself with the words I chose to tell myself and to STOP if those seeds are not good. Would I talk to a friend the way I talk to myself? I need to make that change today.
