Have you ever berated yourself? What do you say? Do words of self doubt reverberate in your head? We are constantly sending messages to ourselves and to others. Talk to yourself like you would to a beloved friend.  Feel free to debate yourself rather than swallow the negative soliloquy. Condemning words are like self-inflicted wounds with the salt of shame being rubbed in it.  With affirming self talk, replace the double-negative of compounding shame and blame.  Words matter, but words don’t teach— practiced experience does.