Talking Back to Self-Criticism

How often are you encouraging with yourself?

All day long? A couple of times a day? Once a week? Never?

Negative self-talk is a common problem and a real thorn in the side of efforts to find better mental and emotional health. It’s difficult to feel relaxed, motivated, or inspired if we always listen to a voice in our head that is telling us how rotten we are, and how nothing we do is worth anything.

 People spend thousands of dollars and thousands of hours trying to silence that negative voice in the head and fight back against negative self-talk. Some go to therapy, some go to meditation retreats, and others travel. Some use positive affirmations, others exercise, and many try to focus on God rather than self.

 But unfortunately, others don’t even try to fight back against that negative voice of self-criticism. They just accept it as truth. Or if they did try to fight back, once upon a time, they eventually give up because it just seems “too hard.”

What are you doing to combat negative self-talk? How are you lifting yourself up each day?

In a withdrawal and healing process, the negative thoughts can get ramped up to a 100 on a scale of 1-10, and this includes negative thoughts about ourselves and our future, some of which might include:

1.  I will never heal.
2.  My situation is too complicated to have a solution.
3.  Nothing I do really makes a difference.
4.  My best days are behind me.
5.  I’m just doomed to a terrible fate, accept it already.
6.  I’m just different from other people, broken, and I need to just accept that already.
7.  I am not very loveable and not a good person. I don’t really deserve a better future.

Do you recognize any of the above thoughts? If not, great, but I bet you’ve had a few of them.

This week, I’d like for you to pay attention to negative and critical thoughts that arise. And when they do, I’d like for you to label them as “symptoms” and as “lies.”

Here is How You Say Something Good to Yourself

Negative thoughts are symptoms of a withdrawal process, just as surely as nerve pains or head pressure can be, and they are lies from the Enemy, the one who tries to convince you that God is far away from your situation and that there is no hope. Remind yourself of these truths when the negative thoughts try to convince you that they come from a rational or truthful place—they don’t.

And as you become more accustomed to catching negative thoughts and dismissing them for what they are (symptoms and lies), I would also like you to focus on the following rebuttals, or positive affirmations.

1.  I will heal.
2.  My situation does have a solution.
3.  Everything I do makes a difference.
4.  My best days are in front of me.
5.  I’m destined for great things in the future.
6.  I’m not weirder or worse than anyone else. I’m just working through some things right now and that’s okay. At least I’m working to improve, and that already makes me a success.
7.  I am loveable. I am special. I am a child of God, and my life and future are worth a lot. I'll get there if I just keep at it. 
   

Lift yourself up this week, every day. Because you deserve it, and there is no single day in this process when it isn’t important.

Until next time,

Michael