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i read a book back in the late 70’s that impacted my life. i can’t remember the title. i definitely don’t remember the author. i even went and perused amazon looking for it. the only thing i remember from the title are the words, self-talk.
…but i remember the core of the content as if i’d just read it yesterday.
a lot of people probably called it a bunch of psycho-babble back in the day. it would definitely be judged that way today. but to me, it created a way of understanding myself and how i would interact with my environment to this day.
this is going to sound a little weird, but hear me out. nobody has more influence on my life than i do, because nobody talks to me more than i do. i talk to myself all day long, everyday. it’s like i am having one non-stop conversation with myself from the moment i get up, until i pack it in for the day.
and the same is true for you.
the things you say to yourself form the way you live and shape what you believe about yourself. i’m not saying that we don’t have other input. far from it. when we read the truth of scripture or listen to the wisdom of counsel, that’s only part of the story.
when jesus said the words, “he who has ears, let him hear”, he was expecting the inner dialogue to take place…the private conversation where we process what we have heard or read…the self-talk where we break things down and where information turns to belief.
life is constant sensory overload. every moment we are confronted with input that we have to make decisions about… whether we will believe what others say about us…whether we will be defined by our failures, or even our successes… whether we will let worry or stress or anxiety or fear take over our thought lives…or whether we will speak absolute truth into our own souls.
look, self-talk is not a perfect science. it’s subject to our emotions, to paranoia, to the hurt of others, to unrealistic expectations. some times it’s subject to exhaustion or illness or aching knees. sometimes we just want to watch television and pick up the conversation in the morning.
honestly, i’ve been having some pretty bad self-talk lately. i’ve been telling myself lies…and believing them. it’s time for that conversation to end.
how about you? what are you telling yourself? how are you processing the situations you find yourself in? is truth winning out over lies? are you continuing to re-live pain? are you plotting revenge? are you giving yourself a break or are you being too hard on yourself?
the conversation never really ends.
so make it a good one.
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