A CABL Classic post …
If you are like most people, you probably spend time cursing yourself without even realizing it. By cursing I don’t mean pulling out alligators’ tails and saying some sort of incantation, but what you do is cursing nonetheless.
How often have you said things like, “I am so fat” or “What an idiot. I can’t believe how stupid I am” or even, “I hate my life.”
Every time words like these come out of your mouth you are opening the door for disaster. As spiritual beings we have been given authority over our lives and when we curse ourselves with negative self-talk we are actually giving the powers that be permission to fulfill our words.
In addition, the more we allow negative self-talk to come out of our mouths, the more we are programming our minds to think the same way. And negative minds beget negative actions. So negativity perpetuates more negativity.
The reverse is also true. If we love ourselves with our words we are programming our minds to love ourselves too. This in turn allows us to live a more positive life which enables us to approach others in this same light, generating a more positive reaction from those around us. Positive energy perpetuating positive energy.
Training your mind and your mouth, however, can be a challenge. If you’ve allowed yourself to be inflicted by others’ words or by your own, most of us have, you have work to do. My husband helped me realize this several years ago. I had recorded mental tapes that played all the curses I, or others, had placed on myself. When I’d get frustrated I’d allow the old negative tapes to play and my words would reflect those messages.
Reprogramming those mental tapes takes work and diligence. Generally it does not happen overnight, but it does happen and it is well worth the effort.
I made a list of several things I knew to be true of myself and wanted desperately to believe. Among other things, my list included: I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139:14), I am worthy, my womanly body is beautiful, I am intelligent, I am a good friend, I am successful, etc.
I kept my list where I would see it and be reminded to repeat these things to myself on a regular basis. Sometimes I’d pick one or two of the items on my list and adopt them as my mantra for days, or weeks, at a time.
The more I read and verbally repeated my list the less power my old, negative tapes had and the more empowered I became. I began feeling restored, worthwhile and capable of facing what was to come.
This truth is one I wished I had understood earlier in my life. I spent years cursing myself and allowing the curses of others to take a hold of me. As a result, I have to continually work to break those curses and remove their power. However, the good news is that the more I do it the easier it becomes. And the number of negative tapes I have running through my head today are far less than they were years ago.
This truth is also one I am trying to pass on to others, my daughters included. It breaks my heart to hear one of them spew out something nasty about themselves. When I hear one of them say something negative about, say, their body, I try to bring it to their attention immediately so they can reverse the effects of the curse and bless instead.
Many of us curse without even knowing it. We are, unfortunately, so used to hearing the negative that we don’t even notice it.
Choose a Better Life ™ by listening to what tapes play in your mind and what words come out of your mouth. Break the cycle of negativity by stopping the curses and replacing them with blessings and truths. Retrain your brain to only play positive tapes about who you are and where you are going. Your life will be transformed.
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