You probably think you're a nice person.
And maybe you are...
To everyone else.
After all these years of talking to people about what's really going on inside their heads, I have come to learn that many people are quite mean to themselves.
They say nasty things to themselves that they would never DARE to say to their friends.
Think of your inner dialogue - what do you say about yourself when you first wake up in the morning...?
What do you think and say when you look at yourself in the mirror...?
What do you think as you gaze down at your tummy...?
What do you say when you think of what you ate,
how you spoke,
what you did with your time...?
Are these things you would ever say out loud to your friend?
Or your child?
Many of us feel it's fine to criticise ourselves.
"It's ok to say that, it's just me. And really I should know better by now."
But it hurts.
It hurts so much when the person who needs to love you the most says these horrible things to you and about you.
And because it hurts, we check out, we act out, we feel trapped and abused and resentful in the world.
Because the most important person in the world is dismissive and mean to us.
Don't think that what you say to yourself doesn't have an impact.
It does.
It affects your well-being, your health, your relationships your prosperity...
It's hard to be ok and feel confident when someone is constantly putting you down.
So stop it now.
It's mean.
And whatever you may believe... you don't deserve it.
Try speaking to yourself in mostly an encouraging and accepting way...
As you would to someone you really love and care about.
What might it be like if your inner voice regularly reassured you that you're just fine as you are...?
And you often told yourself things like, "I like how I did that. I'm really proud of me."
Instead of being mean and telling yourself where you went wrong, how you aren't the way you SHOULD be, how you aren't succeeding enough, or clever enough, or impressive enough in some way...
Try to be nice.
To you.
Complete these statements out loud now:
"What I like about myself is..."
"I have come a long way in ...."
"I am proud of myself for..."
"Even though I struggle with ...., I love and accept myself."
Let me know how it goes.
If you loved yourself, what reassuring thing would you tell yourself right now?
