It’s easy to be hard on ourselves when we try to evaluate how we’re doing. In fact, our harsh personal standards may even keep us from practicing personal examination and asking open-ended questions.

Author Emily Freeman recently wrote about both the pursuit of being at rest and how she examines herself. She hits on a really import point about the tone we use. While she began by thinking of rest as a matter of “If…”, she found that it was far more hopeful to think of “when” her soul is at rest.

Tone matters when we deal with ourselves. Hard questions are good, but we need to offer ourselves hope. Here’s what Emily writes:

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“If my soul were truly at rest, I would laugh more, I would stop making so many lists, I would be able to sit still for longer periods of time, I wouldn’t make decisions out of fear…

I would rather take out the “if” altogether and replace it with “when” –

When my soul is truly at rest, I laugh more, I stop making so many lists, I am able to sit still for longer periods of time, I don’t make decisions out of fear.”

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“Asking myself questions that matter are important for my own spiritual growth. But equally important is the tone I use when I ask the questions. I want to cast a hopeful vision, not weigh myself down with despair.”

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“I have experienced soul rest more completely now at 36 than I did at 28. I hope that continues to be true of me as I get older.”

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Read the rest and check out Emily’s bestselling books while you’re at it!

 

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