Nicer

Negative self-talk is loud.  It’s so loud that it mutes our feelings and desires.  The reason we don’t always hear ourselves saying these mean things is that we get used to the constant roar.  When we start paying attention to how much we shit-talk ourselves, however, we can hear the noise for what it is:  bothersome, disruptive garbage.  And because it’s so annoying, so distracting, it’s not long before we turn down the blaring radio in our head and say, 'Shut the fuck up, I can’t hear my best self think.'  Once the noise is gone, it’s a whole lot easier to hear yourself whispering about what you really want out of life.

I learned to recognize what kinds of situations and interactions made me feel bad about myself.  I started realizing who in my life made me feel inferior, what kinds of messages I had internalized as a child, what kinds of messages I was still internalizing as an adult, and how all of the above affected my self-esteem, often without me even realizing it.  Tracking these patterns crystallized them for me and, ultimately, allowed me to prepare multiple plans of action.  It also made me think:  Holy shit, ______.  You really gotta be nicer to yourself.

Katie Sturino, Body Talk