Be a Spiritual Roadrunner and Not a Naughty Old Coyote
And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.”
When I was a boy, I loved cartoons. I loved watching the Roadrunner outsmart the Coyote. The Pink Panther was a cool dude. Bugs Bunny, the Tasmanian devil, and Yosemite Sam were friends I looked forward to seeing every Saturday morning. The old cartoons regularly had the comedic symbols of the angel on one sleeve and the devil on the other. Each one whispers in your ear, trying to influence the poor person’s decision-making. While it isn’t true that we have an angel and a demon vying for our attention, we do have thoughts that often do not agree.
Our subconscious mind cannot always be trusted. It is influenced by disjointed feelings and misinterpreted partial memories. Ayodeji Awosika’s article “You Deserve a Better Life, You Just Have to ‘Trick’ Your Subconscious Mind Into Believing It” helps us recognize the thoughts that make us feel bad about ourselves are not always worth believing. Awosika asks us to “Think about the cumulative effect of all the negative things you’ve told yourself about yourself.” God wants us to live with joy and well-being.
Awosika states, “You’re fighting an uphill battle from birth. It doesn’t help that you learn to view your own behavior through the lens of right and wrong, mostly wrong, from a very young age. You spend your whole life being told what not to do.” Each negative emphasis reinforces itself, evolving until we become exceptional at focusing on the adverse while often ignoring the positive aspects of oneself. It is a spiritual task to intentionally put forth effort on the affirming voices within, providing the opportunity for a fairer understanding of one’s identity.
Today, seek to listen to your thoughts. When a negative view of yourself arises, do not immediately consider it truthful. Instead, ask God to help you honestly evaluate the thought based on positive examples from your life. You already have negative self-talk. It is not arrogant to intentionally focus on the affirmative. It takes effort to create truthful self-talk. When you and God work together to make a proper evaluation, feelings of contentment and joy can return. Then, you will feel more like the Roadrunner and less like that relentless old Coyote.