Today I’m trying to listen to the voices in my head. And, lest you think I’m one step short of heavy medication and cutting off my own ear, they are the sort of self-talk that everyone has. According to Alice Domar in Self-Nurture:
We all have our own “greatest hits”—specific tracks of negative self-talk that we replay at the slightest provocation, or no provcation at all. And women in America have quite a number of collective hits: “I’m fat,” “I’ll never amount to anything,” “I’m a bad mother” are just a few.
In any case, today I am listening to myself to hear what sorts of messages I give myself all day. And then I’ll begin some cognitive restructuring, which can balance the thoughts by asking myself: Does this thought contribute to my stress? Where did I learn this thought? Is this a logical thought? Is this thought true?