Self-talk

Whenever I'm walking around the garden

I have all kinds of conversations with myself.  Often in times past,

the voice in my head has been quite critical.  But lately,

I'm learning to not be so hard on myself when things don't succeed out there 

and to focus more on the things that do ... simple affirmations, if you like.

This particular evening, I was feeling grateful to see I'd made the right choice

by keeping the bean seedlings protected the past couple of weeks.  Days of rain 

combined with below-normal cold nights

are not a Borlotti's best friend

[ and you know how much I love my Borlotti's! ]

Any sun we did have

was captured by their thermal row cover ...

I can tell they've appreciated it.

Transparency during the rosy glow at sunset sent me running for my camera.

Look at that little plant on the right, reaching ...

Oh, that's grand.

Then as luck would have it, while editing images for this post this morning

a link arrived from one of the photographers I follow, John Paul Caponigro,

with the intriguing title, "Engage Your Inner Coach." 

Since conversing with myself  ~ in a positive way ~ was such a big topic last evening, 

I headed over there for a read.

He rarely disappoints, pictorially and otherwise.  Here's a snippet I loved:

You've heard it all before too. "You're just like ... you always ...

you never ... you'll never ... why try ..."

As Carla Gordon said, "If someone in your life talked to you

the way you talk to yourself,

you would have left them long ago."

Well now.  Ok, yes ... this I have done.  

So on I read:

When you talk about yourself or your work, do you use positive or negative words?

The words we use can be very revealing about our orientations,

 attitudes and beliefs. Many times, when we speak about ourselves,

if we speak about ourselves,

we downplay our abilities and accomplishments.

It's true that no one likes a raving egomaniac. But, there's a

real difference between arrogance and confidence.

Confidence is attractive and inspiring; arrogance isn't; neither is insecurity.

Don't let your insecurities get the best of you.

Be careful not to talk yourself down, cut yourself short,

or fall completely silent.

Instead, learn to speak simply and directly about yourself and your work

and above all share your enthusiasm ...

How important is this?

Consider how much money is spent every year

on motivational resources like books, videos, lectures, workshops, and more.

The figures are enormous. That's how important it is to other people.

Ask yourself, "What's the price of not doing it?"

That's far greater ...

: : :

If you've stuck with me this far and are still reading this, perhaps you're

seeing yourself in his words like I did?

There's so much more ~ to read John's entire post, click HERE.

Don't miss his stupendous image Gallery while you're over there.  He is one of the greats.