SecondIron's Blog

Sharpening Iron to Live Second

How You Talk to Yourself

We joke about people that we see talking to themselves. We make light of their mental stability. The real question is “How do you talk to yourself?”

We spend much of our life alone. Even if we are married or have kids. It may not seem like we are ever alone. Yet in truth we hang out in our own mind most of the day. We even go to bed together every night. The one person we talk to the most is ourselves.

With self-esteem issues rampant today. We need to be careful how we talk to ourselves. Looking in the mirror in the morning. Seeing the lines, spots and age. Wanting to look different, younger, thinner, prettier. Maybe you grew up being told or thinking you were fat or ugly. Into your mind your own voice starts to creep.

Driving to work, ever notice that you tell others off? You scream and yell with the windows closed. The driver that caused all your angst remains oblivious. Meanwhile you tell yourself what an idiot they are. Your day is already off to a great start. Blood pressure risen, pulse heightened all because of the way you were speaking, to yourself.

Feeding our mind and spirit words of encouragement can be transforming. Whether you spend a few minutes each day speaking affirmations to yourself in the mirror. Maybe it means listening to a motivational audio book on your commute. Perhaps taking the 30 day challenge with K-love can start a trend of positive thinking and in turn speaking.

Too many people dwell on the negative aspects of the world. They would rather spew hateful rhetoric than words of kindness. We must challenge the status quo. Speaking words of encouragement unto ourselves. Bless those that may curse you. By turning the other cheek in the mirror. We may event change the world starting with how we speak to ourselves. What words of kindness and inspiration do you speak into your own heart?

As a kid I read a lot, okay maybe excessively. I read the dictionary and the Encyclopedia for fun. Reading was my refuge from the world. I spent so hours reading about the tragedies of the world that my language turned bitter. Between the neglect and abandonment I felt, I began to use self loathing talk as a means to fit in or at least get by. Years went by and the way I talked about myself and to myself reflected in the way I treated others.

When you grow up feeling inadequate those feelings follow you. Used to being compared to the successes of others. Being told you were stupid, or should have never been born. A person can develop a failure mentality. They begin to despise who looks back at them in the mirror. They withhold emotions from others amidst their self-deprecating lifestyle.

New Release The Carpenter (A Book Review)

Best selling author Jon Gordon returns with his latest book The Carpenter: A Story About the Greatest Success Strategies of All that is bound to inspired readers and audiences around the world.  Jon has been a consultant for  numerous NFL, NBA, MLB coaches and teams, Fortune 500 companies, school districts, hospitals and non-profits.  He has nine previous books many of which are best sellers and his tenth book The Carpenter is sure to follow in the same path. From the author of The Energy Bus and The No Complaining Rule comes another heartfelt leadership story we can all learn from and relate to.  In The Carpenter, Jon takes us on a journey with the main character Michael who wakes up in a hospital bed bandaged up on the outside burdened with fear and a heavy heart on the inside. Like many people who try to take on the world and build a business on their own, the stress and anxiety finely got the best of Michael on his morning jog. Fortunately as Michael tumbles to the ground collapsing with he is seen by a stranger who comes to aid and possibly saves his life.  His doctor stresses that he needs to slow down and take it easy for a while. Remember, life gives us warnings for a reason. Learn from this. Do things differently. Click To Tweet As Michael tries to heed the doctors warnings and his wife’s pleads to take it easy he begins to go stir crazy.  While sitting in front of the TV one day he […]

Heaven is For Real – A Movie Review

As many of you have noticed there have been a number of faith-based movies that have come out of Hollywood over the past few months.  The movie Heaven is for Real is another installment in the Hollywood minority that are not afraid to share with the world their beliefs. The movie is an adaptation of the 2010 book written by Todd Burpo  about his family and their four-year old child Colton that has the opportunity to visit Heaven and come back and share his story. Colton played by Connor Corum is the  cutest four-year that has hit the big screen in many years.  He is smart kid and I even turned to my wife and commented “he’s just four” as some of the conversations he had with his dad Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear) were a lot more than you would expect.  Then again I don’t know too many that have been to Heaven either. Colton get’s very sick and ends up needing an appendectomy, while he was in surgery he had a ‘out of body’ experience.  He did not die which was challenging for some of the cynics for we all think you have to die to go to Heaven.  Yet the things he saw and the people he met would make almost anyone a believer and well watch the movie and find out. Todd Burpo is a pastor at a small church in Nebraska.  Having a child that was near death and comes back to talk about it would be challenging for anyone.  Being a preacher in […]