How often do you catch yourself engaged in self-talk?

What is the motive of your self-absorption?

 

There are 2 types of self talk: one is motivated by ego, better termed as ego self-talk. It is beyond plain sight of onlookers, and best described as reverie (or drifting at random and fired by egotistical motives).

 

Genuine self-talk is conscience-talk. It is the real inner guide. It is that “still small voice” that tells the ego when it treks the path of self-mutilation.

Nobody can tell you which voice you are currently listening to. But listening to your ego leads you away from the path of spiritual ascent.

 

What should occupy your mind? How should you engage in your interior spiritual life? When you listen to that inner master, everything about the morality of your actions, about virtues, about wisdom, and about God come to the fore. Then, like St. Augustine, you get profound insights into your condition. Transformation, through grace, becomes attainable.

 

Through the Confessions of St. Augustine, his Spiritual Autobiography, he anointed himself as the father of self-talk where he focused on things about morality, soul and God.

 

The “Confessions” is written in the form of prayer, addressed to God. He confesses his sins, praises God’s grace, and seeks His understanding. Read his Confessions, one paragraph at a time, to get spiritual insights and learn, as St. Augustine learned, to seek the power of grace to overcome his weaknesses.

Transform your self-talk into a prayer. And you are practicing “Remembrance of God” every conscious moment of your life.

 

A powerful technique to keep you on track is the short inscription done hourly: “Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy. Lord, I love thee.” Even your failures in thought and feelings can lead you back to the greatness of God.