What you mutter in your self talk does matter

What you Mutter in your Self Talk does Matter

What do you mutter in your self talk? It does matter, but you can change the stream of words that you keep saying.

I like to listen to people.

In particular, I try to listen to the words or phrases that are repeated. The little phrases or sentences they might say either verbally or non-verbally.

The deep mutter that reveals what is happening on a subconscious level.

This little mutter has been shaped over many years of repeating the same thought over and over again.

The mutter could be distilled down to a few key lines. Here are some examples.

Mutter

  • ‘If it’s going to be, then it’s up to me.’
  • ‘I never succeed at anything’
  • ‘I never get anything right’
  • ‘I’ve had a tough life, you owe me’

I wonder what you mutter?

The fascinating thing is that one of the meanings of the word ‘meditate’ (Hagah in the Hebrew) is to mutter.

When we think of meditation, we may well think of being quiet, still, focusing our thoughts and feelings, possibly concentrating our attention on God and a verse of scripture.

David writes about this in Psalm 1.

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God. But they delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating [Muttering] on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely. 

They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper. 

But for sinners, what a different story! They blow away like chaff before the wind.  They are not safe on Judgment Day; they shall not stand among the godly. 

For the Lord watches over all the plans and paths of godly men, but the paths of the godless lead to doom. Psalm 1

Self talk

But, what do we mutter, or allow our mind to mediate continually upon?

There is a book in the Bible called Lamentations.

Not a wildly popular book because it is a lament, a book of sadness and loss.

Even so, we can learn much from lament.

Grief is ok, it is part of the normal human condition. What we do with our sadness counts.

What we mutter matters.

The writer says this:

The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. Lamentations 3:19-20

Can you see the mutter?

His soul is continually thinking about his affliction and his exiled state. He had been taken away from home as a captive of another nation.

He is thinking of his homeland and is sick with grief. Wormwood and gall are metaphors for very bitter experiences.

Then he uses some self-soothing mutters. He disciplines his mind to remember and mutter something new.

Yet I still dare to hope
    when I remember this:

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.

Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning.

I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”

The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.

So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.

Lamentations 3:21-26

Some new thoughts are brought to the mind.

Thoughts of hope, steadfast love, mercies, faithfulness, inheritance, goodness, and salvation.

His mind mutters something life giving.

What you give your mind to meditate/ mutter on will set the course of your thoughts and behaviours.

What do you mutter? Listen and note down your self talk.

Perhaps you need to ask a close, safe friend or someone you trust to tell you what they think you mutter about.

Could Lamentations 3:21-26 become part of your daily mutter?

Happy muttering!

Questions? 
Comments?
Email me 🙂📨 barry@turningthepage.co.nz

Barry Pearman

Image by Hans_van_Rijnberk Creative Commons Flickr

Further reading

I am Known

How to Create New Rope Bridges in our Thinking

I Am Held

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