Inner dialogue

Today is my Monday!

I have two meetings and they are the first of the week  Everything I discuss for the rest of the week starts today.

Not a big deal; just more scrambling in the mornings and more thoughts running through my head. 

Every week we get a topic to discuss and a format to follow  The rest is up to us.

This week we are talking about being nice to ourselves.

Sounds like a funny topic, but if you have ever done something stupid and beat yourself up over it; then you know what I'm talking about!  Negative self talk is a bad thing.  And as it becomes pretty unconscious, we do it more often than we think.  And as we do it, we are literally chipping away at our own self worth. 

Unfortunately, we don't tend to hear ourselves because are thoughts are so unconscious, or seem so unimportant that we dismiss them.  But we still "feel" them, which is where the damage is done.

And the funny thing is; while we talk this way to ourselves, without thought......we would never say these same things to our children!

So then why is it okay that we do it to ourselves??

Because there is no one to intervene in our heads.  It's that simple.

And when you train yourself every single day - it's hard to recover from that.

I realized the level at which I chip away at myself when I was in Pilates.  I was so frustrated and embarrassed that my muscles were so tight, that when the instructor came by to help me with my form (with what seemed like should have been a basic and simple move) I said, "I'm SO inflexible!!!"

His demeanor shifted quickly as he looked at me sternly and said, "I am working on my flexibility!"

I quickly realized what he was saying, I looked back at him and repeated; "I am working on my flexibility".    And the shift I felt in my body went from victim to victor.  It made a world of difference and made me realize how even small, seemingly harmless messages can do harm just like big messages.

Take some time to listen this week.  And be real with yourself.  There is a little kid inside each one of us that needs encouragement and support.  Do your best to build, rather than break!!

Happy Tuesday