This week’s message is short, sweet, and from my heart: Be nice to yourself! My heart is saddened as I encounter too many people who are going through life beating themselves up for past failures and constantly criticizing themselves for their shortcomings. This is holding them back from the success and happiness that could be theirs if they would only lift their thoughts. Does this describe you? If so, I say again, be nice to yourself!
We all have shortcomings and must work hard to overcome them, but constantly mentally berating ourselves is not the way to go about it. John Wooden said, “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” We must forgive ourselves of past mistakes and shortcomings and focus on what we can do and get to work and do it. We can work every day to be a little better. Don’t allow yourself to use your mental energy focusing on mistakes of the past or things you cannot do. There’s a saying, “Energy flows where attention goes.”
Where is your attention going? To what are you giving most of your mental energy each day? If you are one who tends to focus on the negative in life, whether it is in yourself, your family and friends, or your circumstances, may I encourage you to redirect your thoughts? Focus on the positive. Lift your thoughts, and you will lift your life!
A story is told of a man weighed down by the pressures and responsibilities of life. As he was leaving work, he entered the elevator with stooped shoulders and his gaze toward the floor. He heard someone ask, “What are you looking at down there? You know it’s always better to look up.” He recognized the voice as that of a dear friend who realized he needed to be lifted.
Be a friend to yourself by not allowing negative self-talk. Lift yourself! Just as we can push the buttons of an elevator to move us up or down, we also have the ability to choose thoughts that move us up or down. When you find yourself going down, remember that you can turn that around by choosing thoughts that will lift you. Sometimes negative thoughts will creep in, but you do not have to entertain them. You can redirect your thoughts any time you choose, so choose to be nice to yourself.
| Before you go to bed every night, remember this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” In other words, let it go! It’s over and done. Tomorrow is a new day, and you are too precious and your life’s mission is too important to be held back by negative self-talk. I send you my love and encouragement to be nice to yourself |
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