You have to talk to yourself the right way. There’s a story behind that. This is your daily message from Chad number 654 and this message is dedicated to the incredible Chris Edell and a hat tip to Chaz Smith for sending me the story.
“It is really actually more of a psychological game at a certain point where you are almost in a grappling match with your own head.” That was how Chris Edell described his experience in The World Marathon Challenge which he completed recently. Starting in Cape Town South Africa January 28th 2025 and ending February 6th in Miami FL, Chris completed 7 marathons in 7 days, on 7 continents. I cannot imagine that feat. It is a remarkable accomplishment. Chris was part of a group of 60 participants who started the challenge. 54 (90%) were able to complete it.
The psychological game Chris described is being able to talk to yourself in the right way. We all talk to ourselves. We don’t all talk to ourselves in the right way. Learning to talk to oneself in the right way is, I would submit, the most important skill there is to learn. Most people listen to themselves, more than talk to themselves. Everyone has a safety voice in their head. We are hard-wired for survival. Fight or flight is a real thing. You have a little kid inside you who is either kicking and screaming or pulling the blankie over your head. Many people spend their whole lives listening to that little kid.
You can listen to yourself or you can talk to yourself. Self-talk is not to deceive yourself. Self-talk is to direct yourself. This is a skill. It can be learned. Spiritual directors call this self-communion. The Psalm I read this morning is a perfect example of this. One of the verses says, “Why, my soul are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” That’s at the end in verse 11. The Psalmist is basically giving a sermon to himself, preaching to his harried heart. Instead of listening to panicky chatter, he speaks hope to himself. This is what Chris Edell said he had to do throughout his 7 marathons.
You have to talk to yourself the right way. You have to speak about those things that aren’t — as though they were — until they are. Have you been listening to yourself more than you’ve been talking to yourself? Flip the script. Tell yourself a better story. Speak hope to your heart.
If you have examples of talking to yourself you can share them at fromchadsmith@gmail.com. You can find these messages on YouTube @fromchad. You can find a transcript of this message and hundreds of others at fromchad.com.
