How fun! I remember this lesson from when I was coaching Girls on the Run. My dear friend Elizabeth, who's very involved in GOTR Los Angeles, must've submitted today's challenge.
I must say that I did very well on this challenge. I was in a great, positive mood today and refrained from negative self-talk. Even when situations arose that would typically illicit negative thoughts about myself, I didn't have them. Hmm. Do you think the first 16 days of this challenge are having the desired positive side effects? Nellie sitting on my desk staring at me was a very helpful reminder. There is also something to be said for being mindful about something. Because I was mindful of how I thought about myself today, I was intentionally kind. Why can't we all do that every day?
I made it all the way until late afternoon until...
My wife sent me an email reminding me about her meeting after work and that she'd see me later for our "fun dinner". What "fun dinner"!? Am I supposed to cook? I emailed her back and she reminded me about our fun dinner plans with an old friend tonight. "Duh, I'm so stupid", I laughingly said out loud to myself. I've only been looking forward to it for over a week. How could I have forgotten? Uh oh, I just called myself stupid. Though I said it humorously, how would I feel if someone else would've said that? It would hurt my feelings. Admittedly, it wasn't a serious offense and seems pretty harmless, but still. It came out so automatically - to disparage myself for something so unimportant. And even just joking, there is a danger in prolonged exposure. The more you do it the more automatic and accepted it becomes. So how do I move from "I'm so stupid" to something else, like "Oh, that's right!" or "I'm so silly!"?
I sort of like having Nellie around to remind me to be kind. I might just keep her on my desk and even encourage my colleagues to slam dunk their negative self-talk.
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