Talk to Yourself Like a Good Friend
I’ve been focusing on the power of the spoken word, for some time now. One of the things I’ve noticed is that I was talked negatively to myself while growing up as a kid in the Bahamas.
This is so unhealthy and people don’t realize we should pay close attention to the words we say to ourselves.
The golden rule tells us we should treat others as we would want them to treat us.
Maybe so. But hopefully we won’t treat them even half as badly as we treat ourselves.
“You’re so lame!”
“You’re such a loser.”
“I don’t know why anyone would want to date you.”
“How can you ever show your face in public again.”
Would you talk this way to a friend or even to a stranger, for that matter? Of course not. Over the years while growing up I’ve noticed that people will never talk to those close to them this way.
It’s natural for us to try to be kind to the people we care about in our lives. We let them know it’s okay to be human when they fail. We have pity for our friends. We feel sympathy when our family members are going through difficult times.
We reassure them of our respect and support when they’re feeling bad about themselves.
We comfort them when they’re going through hard times. In other words, most of us are very good at being understanding, kind and compassionate toward others. As a pastor, I’ve noticed this to be so true on so many levels. But how many of us are good at being compassionate to ourselves?
If your friend came to you with the same issue he/she was disappointed in him/herself for not having a stellar quarterly review…what would you say?
Probably not, “I’m so disappointed in you. You can do better.”
Rather, you’d be supportive and kind and listen to exactly what went wrong. Most of us who are Christians are also very open to praying for someone who is having a hard time.
Treating yourself and your disappointment like a close friend can help ease the blame and help you exercise more self-compassion.
There's always room for treating yourself better. Treating yourself like a best friend is a great start.
TREAT YOURSELF LIKE YOUR OWN FRIEND. YOU’RE SPENDING YOUR WHOLE LIFE WITH YOURSELF. This is important for you to do on your journey to living life effectively.
You can be YOUR own worst enemy or YOUR best friend. PICK YOUR BEST FRIEND. Join me along with my Effective Living tribe for a Fitness in the Park as you learn to talk to yourself and take care of your body at the same time on Saturday, February 5th at 8am. We'll be at Great Trinity Forest Gateway located at 2161 Dowdy Ferry Road in Dallas. You can learn more and register here. We hope to see you this weekend!
