Negative Self-Talk – Video

This is the first blog that is the response to a requested topic. We all have a little (and sometimes, quite loud) voice inside of us that likes to torment us when we are not performing as it thinks we should. Its favorite pasttime is to compare: who we are now versus who we were or who we should be in the future, what our friends are doing, who our parents wanted us to be, what the magazines say (see my article “The Difference Between Evaluation and Appreciation”). If we don’t measure up to those arbitrary standards, then the whipping begins.

Ultimately, self-acceptance is the key to moving from self-judgment to self-love. We can be conscious of qualities that we don’t like about ourselves without devolving into abuse, and we can challenge ourselves to improve with encouragement and compassion.

We are all a perfect work in progress. Paradoxical, yes. But perfection and evolution are not mutually exclusive; both can exist within the same space if we can open our hearts to the beauty and value in all phases of our existence.