I Talk to Myself

I know you’re probably thinking one of two things: either “You’re crazy.” or “Doesn’t everyone?”  What I am referring to, though, is not the regular, everyday kind of talking to myself (of course, you won’t be surprised to learn I do that too).   It’s a new kind of talking to myself that I recently invented.

I have started using it whenever I find myself in a funk.  Like, I wake up in the morning and I feel kind of blah or low energy, probably not even for any particular reason.  Or, a series of things happen during that day that seem “bad” and I find myself in a bad mood.  THEN, I start talking to myself.  I start speaking sentences out loud about every big and little thing that if going right in my life and in the world.  For example:  “It is sunny out today.  I am healthy.  I have plenty of organic, healthy food in the house to eat.  My furnace works and it is warm in my house.  I have a house.  I have an amazing and fun relationship with my daughter.  I have paid all my bills and still had money left over this month.  Spring is coming.  I have lots of conscious, supportive friends in my life.”  Stuff like that.

Yours would probably be different, because of the circumstances of your life, and the things that you value.

I do this for as long as it takes to shift my mood.  Sometimes that may take up t0 twenty minutes.  (I don’t know for sure, I haven’t timed myself, lol.)

Of course, this technique is not the one to use in all circumstances.  It’s more of an “in a funk for no particular reason” fix.  Or, you notice you’ve been having a lot of negative thoughts- which lead to negative feelings.  In other situations, clearly, the thing that is needed to feel better is to express an emotion.  Say that a loved one died.  It is impossible to cheer yourself up by talking to yourself in this way.  Or, maybe it would work temporarily but that would be more like denial than a mood shift through positive thinking.  In that case, acknowledging and expressing the feelings you are having is the only way to get to the other side and experience joy again.

Maybe by now you are thinking:  “Yeah, that works for her, but it wouldn’t work for me.”  Good try. That’s a convenient story to keep you in a negative, stuck place.  I used to use that one all the time, back in the day.  Trust me, you are not special.  You’re the same as all of us.

I challenge anyone to try this technique for thirty minutes and just see if they can stay in a negative mindset. If you succeed at feeling shitty after thirty minutes,  a “success” probably no one wants to have, there’s something bigger going on than just a bad mood…

If you decide to try this experiment, or have already been doing it yourself, I’d love to hear from you about what your experience is like.  Also, if you have other ways that you get yourself out of a funk, please share.  We could all use a bit more joy in our lives.

 

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