To myself.
"Thunder thighs"
"Big hips"
"Soft"
The negative self-talk I've been allowing to happen is stupid. It has no place. I'm far too valuable to bring myself down with silly thoughts. But I have been.
Every year after I finish my usual winter half marathon and the training that goes with it, my weight moves to the upper end of my "set point". This year when I finished my half, I was also sidelined with a knee injury and I didn't run for over a month.
Did this cause me to gain double digit pounds and hunt down a whole new wardrobe?
No.
But it effected me just enough to let out the ugly beast of negative self-talk.
Negative self-talk is a bully. It pushes and taunts, but nothing good comes of it.
On Saturday night we were getting ready to head to a friend's dinner party and I couldn't find anything I wanted to wear. Nothing fit "right" and I was really thinking some heinous thoughts about myself. My thighs were taking the brunt of the abuse.
Then I came back in the bathroom and Florence & The Machine was rocking on my Pandora.
"Shake it out, shake it out. And it's hard to dance with the devil on your back so shake him off. Oh Whoa"
It was like a lightbulb. "Duh Carissa. How can you expect to find joy if you've got this ugly 'devil' hanging on your back. Shake him off."
So I am. I work out. I run. I eat well. I'm healthy. When I choose to focus on all of those things I feel so much better.
We can all fall victim to negative self talk. It can relate to our bodies, our relationships, our job performance....anything. And the result is the same. Nothing. Nothing good comes out of it.
Next time you find yourself playing "Debbie Downer" take a deep breath and shake it off!
And if you just want to vent, then I'm here to listen.
Or you can take this approach:
Today I empower you to say something nice to someone. Even if it's just yourself.
How do you deal with negative self talk?
Love and affirmations,
Carissa & Kyle
