How often do you s
peak to yourself in a hurtful way? Do you ever stop yourself and make an effort to change your thought pattern? I’m practicing doing so, and I want to recommend that for today’s self-love practice you do the same.
I attended the 6-week Oprah’s Life Class with Brené Brown, in which she discussed a portion of her book: The Gifts of Imperfection and she coached the attendees in creating a journal. Right before the Thanksgiving week, Brené asked the students to only talk to themselves as if they were talking to their best friends.
I like that idea. We are usually our worse critics. I can’t tell you how many times my inner critic has told me “how can you keep writing and posting articles with an accent?” To which I respond that I already explained to my readers that I do write with an accent, through a blog post I wrote a few years ago, and that it is no longer a secret. I would have written that article differently today though, and that’s fine, I was a different person then.
The first assignment from Brené Brown’s course was to write on our right hand “I’m imperfect and I’m enough”. Of course, I was imperfect writing it, as I was supposed to write it backwards, so that I could take a picture of my hand next to my face (as per that week’s assignment). I judged myself for making this mistake, as I was trying to give myself permission to be imperfect! I did, however, catch myself doing it, so, instead of writing it again “the right way”, I decided to simply take a picture of my hand, without my face, and I printed it and glued it to the journal. Yes, the picture in this post is the one I took when the course started, and yes, I know, it is far from perfect.
I recommend that you pay attention to the thoughts you have about yourself today, and if you catch yourself thinking anything that’s negative about you, or judging yourself in any way, that you stop, breathe, ask yourself if you would be saying it to anyone else you love, and then replace the thought with a loving one. One of the ways I like to replace my negative thought patterns is by repeating: “I love myself, I love myself, I love myself.”
Have a great Saturday and remember to only say kind words to yourself.
Leave a Reply