Dearest Readers,
As some of you know, I am a member of Toastmasters and I often mention this here because the things that I learn in our little meeting inspire me greatly.
However, the club to which I belong meets at 7 a.m. and it is not always easy to get up and greet the world at that hour. Being away for most of the summer has made it a challenge to get back to the weekly meetings. I even started to convince myself I didn’t need to go at all.
With a TM membership, I receive the organization’s monthly magazine. Returning home after my adventures on the road I discovered a few back-issues waiting for me. I was sorely tempted to throw them out without reading them. I’m glad I didn’t.
Reading those magazines reminded me of something vitally important: Toastmasters builds my self-esteem.
How come it’s so easy to do things that erode our self-esteem and so challenging to do things that grow it? I believe it has to do with the amount of shame we carry.
If I am carrying around a lot of shame I’m not going to take the kind of action that increases my sense of well-being. Why? Because on some level I don’t believe I deserve to feel good.
But if I have done (or begin to do) the healing work necessary to overcome the shame then I am more likely to choose the kinds of actions that support my newly confident Self.
Because I’m currently doing some of that Deeper Work the voices of dissent have been pretty loud. After reading through the magazines I thought, “It’s more important than ever to do things that make me feel good about myself” and I committed to returning to Toastmasters.
After leaving the meeting this morning my energy is flowing freely and the world seems a marvelous place. There is no room in my head for negative thinking.
The formula works.
Inspiring Message of the Day: What activities make me feel good about myself? Today I will take the kind of action that builds my self-esteem knowing that I deserve the rewards that come from doing so.
