What You Say Defines Your Day

People tend to talk a lot about how they feel. Some talk about their feelings more than almost anything else. They talk about how they feel good or bad, happy or sad, excited or discouraged, fearful or bold, stressed or at ease, loved or unloved, angry or peaceful, jealous or happy, etc. The list of adjectives that describe emotions is almost endless.

Feelings are ever changing, usually without notice, doing as they please for no specific reason. We have all experienced going to bed feeling fine physically and emotionally only to wake up the next morning feeling tired and irritable. We often tell anyone who will listen how we feel and say much more about our negative feelings than we do our positive ones.

If I wake up feeling energetic and excited about the day, I rarely announce it. But if I feel tired and discouraged, I want to tell everyone. It has taken me years to learn that talking about how I feel increases the intensity of those feelings, so it seems to me that we should talk about our positive ones and keep quiet about the negative feelings.

We can always tell God how we feel and ask for His help and strength, but talking about negative feelings just to be talking does no good. If negative feelings persist, asking for prayer or seeking advice can be helpful, but again I want to stress that talking just to be talking is useless. Even if you say, “I feel tired,” you can follow it with “but I believe God will energize me.” When you talk about how you feel, speak positively.

_{Adapted from the book Managing Your Emotions by Joyce Meyer. Copyright 2023 by Joyce Meyer. Published by Hachette Book Group, Inc. All rights reserved.}