What Messages Do You Give Yourself?

Do you ever call yourself names? Do you tell yourself you're dumb, stupid, or call yourself an idiot? If so, what prompts you to do so? Are these things that other people have said to you throughout your life? Do you get upset and mad at yourself every time you make a mistake, or lose something, or make a mess?

Are you technologically challenged (like me)? Don't think that just because I can post something on a blog that I am smart. I'm more like a robot. I can do what I have been taught to do, and some things take a lot of teaching.

The reason I'm writing this particular message is because I suspect there are a lot of people like me out there who are in the habit of putting themselves down. Maybe your parents, siblings, or classmates have put you down and you have accepted their opinion of you. Please don't do that anymore.

I discovered something about myself a few days ago that has helped me a lot. You see, I was one of those awkward kids who never quite fit in. There were a few kids that picked on me and I accepted their evaluation of me instead of accepting the evaluation of the kids who did like me. Our nature is to accept the negative first. Our minds are like digital recorders and the more negative messages we tell ourselves, the more we become convinced that that is who and what we are. This is negative pride. Whenever our attention is more focused on ourselves than others, we are being self-centered.

We recently went on a trip with other family members. Our truck was carrying the luggage of four people. I knew I had to pack light or everything wouldn't fit. I suffer from dry eyes a lot. I have packets of TheraTears that contain small plastic tubes of eye drops which are connected together. I packed 1 set of four tubes. On the way home my eyes became very irritated and I looked frantically for those eye drops. I took everything out of the side pocket of the suitcase. They weren't there. I took everything out of my make-up case. They weren't there. I took everything out of my purse. I could not find them anywhere.

I was so mad at myself for not being able to keep track of even the smallest thing. I must have left them in the motel room or something. I spent the next two hours fuming because I could not find the necessary drops to soothe my eyes. The day after we got home I found them—in my purse. The first thing that happened upon finding them was the Lord speaking to me: "You didn't ask me to help you, did you?" No, Lord, I didn't. "You didn't ask me to soothe your eyes, did you?" No, Lord, I didn't. "My child, there is nothing wrong with your mental status. Sometimes your eyes and your brain don't make a good connection—like your cell phone and a cell tower. You are not alone. Many people experience this. Stop beating yourself up. I don't make junk. You're okay." My father-in-law, recently deceased, once said pretty much the same thing to me. He told me to read a book called, "I'm Okay; You're Okay." I had forgotten about that book until now. God doesn't make junk. We are all okay, regardless of what anyone else thinks. God didn't make a mistake when He made you, and He didn't make a mistake when He made me. The Bible says God uses the foolish things of this world (like we all are sometimes) to confound the wise.