We must practice loving-kindness towards ourselves.

For years I let the voice in my head tell me all kinds of untrue, unkind, self-sabotaging things, just thinking that is how it works. Then I learned that I am the voice. I have the power to decide what my brain tells me. So, I started taking my thoughts that were lies, and the thoughts that were unhelpful and unkind captive (2 Corinthians 5:10). I started replacing those lies with Truth from God’s Word. I find scriptures that combated the lies. I write them down in my journal, write them on post-it notes and hang them where I will see them, sometimes I memorize them. I also combat the lies, unkind and unhelpful thoughts with a mantra that I repeat whenever the unwanted thought comes. And I sing worship songs in my head to refocus myself and bring godly perspective. This is a practice. I have been working on my mind-management for years and am still a work in progress but I have found so much Peace, and Joy, and Comfort, and Strength, and life change by doing this practice. Our brains think so unwanted or triggering thoughts will come but I no longer am controlled by them. PRAISE!

Another thing I realized that helped me to be kinder to myself is I am a student of life. We are students of life. As students we are learning. We are figuring it out. We are not going to get it right the first time. We don’t have all the answers, and that is okay. We have never done this before. We are in the process of becoming. We are the first person to face our circumstances and challenges at this particular time. We must offer ourselves grace! It is not helpful to beat ourselves up. We do the best we can with what we know. And then when we learn there is a better Way to do it, we implement it. Sometimes we take three steps forward and two steps back. We are students. We are learning. We practice and practice and keep practicing until it become part of us. We are in the process of becoming. And this is all part of it. We need to be kind to ourselves like we would be to someone else!

And one last thought for today. We cannot change the past and we cannot control the future, but we can choose how we show up and live in the now. Should haves, could haves, and only ifs are not helpful. We must learn to accept where we are because this is where we are, and this is how it is. We can reframe how we think about our life and tell ourselves this is exactly where I am supposed to be because this is where I am. We have more power than we realize. We have the power to choose. We choose our thoughts. We choose what we do, and say, and where we live, and how we show up.

Be kind to yourself! Talk encouragingly and positively to yourself! No matter what anyone else says or does! Be your own #1 fan!!! Believe in YOU! You’ve got this! And God’s got you! Amen!