If you were asked to keep a daily record of every single time you had a bad thought about yourself, would you have a full page at the end of the day? Do you say things to yourself or out loud such as: "I can't do anything right." or "I have tried and tried and I can't loose weight." or "I don't have any patience." or "I am always late." or "My husband does not care anything about me." You can not have these thoughts without them affecting every part of your life.

Negative thoughts affect your family life, your career, your outlook on life and your feelings of self worth. We have such deep desires to be accepted that we dare not show these feelings of inadequacy. We keep playing the "game" hoping no one will ever know.

Henry Thoreau said an often quoted statement; " The masses of men lead lives of quiet desperation." It's hard to believe these words were written during his life time that was from 1817- 1862. I conclude that humans have not changed much over the years. Mr. Thoreau went on to say, "They are resigned to confirmed desperation...desperate for help or a way to heal that which is within them, but unable or unaware of the resources that are available to help them."

Joanne Wallace wrote a book several years ago entitled, The Image of Loveliness. In it she says, "It has been said that it takes four positive statements to neutralize the effects of every negative comment that we hear about ourselves. (Check out a newer book published this year, Who switched Off My Brain? by Dr. Caroline Leaf .) She goes on to say, "Think back to the last time someone gave you a compliment...We reject the very lifeblood we need to survive as a human being. Unfortunately most women seem to accept complaints more graciously than they do compliments."

Women were created fragile human beings. We are caregivers. We take care of others, many times over looking our own needs, a need to know our self worth. It's important to come to a point where we realize our worth as a person. Social acceptance is not necessarily a gauge for this worth of which I speak. Physical beauty is pleasing to our society. But we don't find solutions to our inner conflicts through such beauty. This has been proven recently by media coverage of women of physical beauty, but no sense of their real worth.

There are more avenues than just our mind to get toxic thoughts into our brain. It's so important to keep out negative lyrics to songs, negative television, negative movie material. There are so many good things in life to dwell on rather than murder, anger, hate, retaliation. Life is totally a choice. After years of struggle, I learned about this mind thing. I refuse to allow outside influences to affect my thought life. But in all honesty, some days I have to work harder than others on this thing. We are so hard on ourselves! Most of us grew up thinking we don't measure up! It's only in our minds that we don't measure up!

Think about what you think about "you". It truly is important. Start improving your self image by improving your thought life. Those little negative thoughts slip in so easily. We have been programmed to hardly notice them. Put a guard on your mind. Negative thinking drains hope and enthusiam. Say things like, "I am a work in progess and I am good at what I do." or "I am fun to be with because I am a cheerful person, always looking on the bright side." (If you're not a cheerful person, now you have a place to start on that make over!)

Jean De La Bruyere said, " A person's worth in this world is estimated according to the value they put on themselves."

An anonymous author said, "If you put a small value on yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price."

Maxwell Maltz said, "Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

And finally the Holy Bible says, *"Be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Need I say more?

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* Roman 12:2