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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We are so glad to

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Speaker 2: have you listening with us here today. Today's topic is

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Speaker 2: ending the cycle of negatively talking about ourselves. We will

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Speaker 2: return after a brief message from our sponsor. Ending the

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Speaker 2: toxic cycle of negative self talk. Written by Vivian Bricker,

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Speaker 2: read by Rochelle Alberti Bible reading. The soothing tongue is

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Speaker 2: a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit,

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Speaker 2: Proverbs fifteen to four. As someone who struggles with negative

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Speaker 2: self talk, it is it's hard not to speak badly

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Speaker 2: about myself. Growing up, I could never measure up to

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Speaker 2: my sisters in skill or ability, and even in the

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Speaker 2: present day, I still feel that I fall short. I'm

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Speaker 2: not a gifted speaker, writer, or artist like my family members,

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Speaker 2: and this makes me feel insecure. My eldest sister was

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Speaker 2: a pro at basketball, and my dad loved watching her play.

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Speaker 2: She was also great at drawing various creatures, including pokemon,

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Speaker 2: as they were her favorite. My other older sister is

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Speaker 2: a master at writing, crafting stories, creating artwork, and playing

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Speaker 2: the piano. My mom used to praise her splendid piano

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Speaker 2: concertos and art assignments. I tried my best at art, music,

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Speaker 2: and sports, but I was never good enough. I simply

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Speaker 2: couldn't measure up. There was no praise, encouragement, or someone

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Speaker 2: cheering me on from the sidelines. This sleftly feeling completely worthless,

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Speaker 2: which led to the start of nakedive self talk. A

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Speaker 2: few days ago, I was sitting in my primary care

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Speaker 2: doctor's office when my doctor asked me why I was

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Speaker 2: so gone. I didn't want to go into detail with

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Speaker 2: him about recent events that led me back to the

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Speaker 2: same feelings of worthlessness. I chose to look at the

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Speaker 2: white and blue checked floors as he went through a

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Speaker 2: depression screening with me. As someone with clinical depression, I'm

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Speaker 2: no stranger to these screenings. However, I had never scored

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Speaker 2: as high as I did at that appointment. I left

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Speaker 2: the office with a new prescription and a referral to

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Speaker 2: restart therapy, but I did not feel hopeful. On the

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Speaker 2: drive home, I told myself, I'm just not good enough

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Speaker 2: and I'm a failure. Anytime we are condestanding, hurtful, or

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Speaker 2: mean to ourselves, we are practicing negative self talk. When

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Speaker 2: I was in therapy years ago, my therapist asked me

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Speaker 2: to name an adult figure in my life who had

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Speaker 2: been supportive of me. My first thought was my grandma,

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Speaker 2: called her Mema. My therapist asked me to think of

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Speaker 2: the time when Mema was proud of me. After thinking

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Speaker 2: for a few minutes, my mind flashed back to when

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Speaker 2: my Mema told me I was good at making other

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Speaker 2: people laugh and smile. Her warm smile filled my heart

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Speaker 2: and I finally felt like I was good at something.

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Speaker 2: To stop negative self talk thoughts, we are going to

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Speaker 2: have to dig deep. I didn't remember the words of

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Speaker 2: my Mema right away, yet after searching for them, I

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Speaker 2: finally knew I could heal. Negative self talk can eat

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Speaker 2: away at us, yet we must become aware of its voice.

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Speaker 2: Once we start naming negative self talk and addressing it,

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Speaker 2: we will notice the voice grow quieter. Intersecting faith in life,

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Speaker 2: the Bible tells us the soothing tongue is a tree

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Speaker 2: of life, but a perversed tongue crushes the spirit Proverbs

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Speaker 2: fifteen four. Whenever we are tempted to start talking badly

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Speaker 2: about ourselves, we need to reflect on this passage. While

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Speaker 2: many people think Proverbs fifteen four is only referring to

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Speaker 2: our communications with others. It also includes the way we

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Speaker 2: communicate with ourselves. By following Proverbs fifteen four, we will

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Speaker 2: begin to speak kindly to ourselves. It might sound cliche,

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Speaker 2: but it is important to talk to ourselves as we

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Speaker 2: would talk to a friend. We wouldn't make mean or

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Speaker 2: derogatory remarks to our friends. Therefore, we don't need to

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Speaker 2: talk to ourselves in this manner. We need to use

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Speaker 2: our words to build ourselves up, rather than tearing ourselves

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Speaker 2: down Ephesians four twenty nine. As you navigate life more positively,

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Speaker 2: remember to end the cycle of negative self talk. Avoid

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Speaker 2: comparing yourselves to others or thinking negatively about yourself because

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Speaker 2: of how others have treated you. Focus on what God

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Speaker 2: says about you in the Bible, memorize Bible passages, and

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Speaker 2: reflect upon His love When you are struggling, stopping comparisons

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Speaker 2: and blotting out unhelpful comments can make a world of difference.

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Speaker 2: How might you start taking Proverbs fifteen four to heart today?

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Speaker 2: What would your self talk look like if you started

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Speaker 2: being kinder to yourself? Further reading Mark twelve thirty to

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Speaker 2: thirty one, Psalm one hundred and thirty nine thirteen through

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Speaker 2: sixteen Ephesians two ten.

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Speaker 1: The Crosswalk Devotional is a production of Life Audio and

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Speaker 1: Salem Media. If you liked what you heard today, please

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Speaker 1: can find the show. For more faith filled inspirational podcasts,

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Speaker 1: visit us at lifeaudio dot com.