A New Way Of Looking At "Self Talk"
I have taken up the habit of talking to myself when I'm alone.
As I became a mom, suddenly most of my friends were moms as well. And us moms are...well, busy is an understatement, I'll just leave it at that.
So I noticed pretty quickly how challenging it would be to maintain a close friendship with someone, as a busy mom.
There was zero time for talking on the phone, because that meant my attention was turned towards an invisible person who my children would become EXTREMELY jealous of (most of you know what that means: fighting in the background, huge boxes of toys dumped on the floor, yelling in my face that they need to go potty....). Going out with friends also became a huge deal, especially all those years of being attached to a nursing baby.
And yet I still yearned for human connection.
I still needed to talk through decisions, to vent about frustrations, to get an objective perspective on what I was going through. In fact there were so many moments throughout my day when having a friend to talk to would have been a lifesaver. And yet with babies and toddlers, finding alone time was, well, pretty close to impossible.
But it wasn't for lack of friends!
There exist so many wonderful people who are more than willing to listen to me when things are rough. My parents have always dropped everything to help me through trying times, which I am so grateful for. However, life as a busy (and often, pregnant) mom left me feeling like I had no alone time to call ANYONE during the day. And then nights filled with unfinished housework, work projects, and catching up on email....Life seemed like a really stressful groundhog day.
However, recently I noticed that I'm not actually alone.
There is a life coach staring back at me in the mirror! It's amazing! Never knew she existed, or that she was a real person. I usually just barely glanced at her, trying not to make eye contact or stare too long. Didn't want to seem rude, vain, or, worse, crazy. But she is a real person; she's me.
When I am in the bathroom for a brief moment, I can look at my reflection, verbalize what is going on, and then listen as I talk to myself just as I would a client or a friend in need of support and direction.
I'm not advocating for the disappearance of real friendships!
I'm just sharing a new way of looking at positive self talk. Usually when we hear "self talk" we think of our inner thoughts. But I'm here to say that really TALKING to yourself may actually have some surprising benefits.
Beautiful readers, the answers to all of your problems are within you.
Are you willing to take the time to connect with your inner light?
Please comment below...let's get this conversation going!
