The cruelest yetzer hara of our generation is that voice of 'being hard on ourselves.' Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT our own internal voice speaking negatively to us. Rather, it's our yetzer hara trying to get the best of us by putting us down. It's actually the voice of the yetzer hara (not our own internal voice) that is wreaking havoc on us by telling us that we are not good enough, in a variety of ways....we are too fat, lazy, our house is a mess, etc.

Nili Salem, a Torah teacher and a certified narrative therapist, shares with us some strategies to overcome this barrage of negativity. One tip she taught us was to:
#1. Identify a person who you love, admire, or care for.
#2. Imagine that the person your identified is going through exactly what you are going through and feeling exactly the way that you do. Think about what you would say to that person, and how you would say it (wording/tone of voice.)
#3. Most likely, you would speak in a compassionate way to that person. If so, speak to yourself in that same compassionate way. If you don't imagine yourself speaking to that person in a compassionate way, then do NOT speak to yourself in the demeaning way that you imagined yourself speaking to that other person.

Also, Nili reminded us that G-d is kind; everything about G-d is kind. So, if you hear a voice speaking to you in your head, and it's not kind, then it is NOT G-d. If it's not G-d, don't listen to it.

For further info, please email atrebetzins@gmail.com