THEME OF THE WEEK: POSTIVE SELF-TALK
From Scripture:
‘I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.’ Philippians 4:13 NLT
‘Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.’ Philippians 4:8 NLT
“If our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace.’ Romans 8:6 CEV
A prayer
Dear God, please give us strength when we are weak,
love when we feel forsaken,
courage when we are afraid,
wisdom when we feel foolish,
comfort when we feel alone,
hope when we feel rejected,
and peace when we are in turmoil.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen
Thought for the Week:
“The purpose of human life is to serve, to show compassion and the will to help others. “ Albert Schweitzer
When you can’t choose or control your circumstances, you can still decide how you’ll respond to them. That means you can talk yourself to death or talk yourself to life. We don’t always recognise when we’re engaging in negative self-talk, because it’s habit-forming. We unconsciously develop a compromised view of ourselves when we constantly think and say things like, ‘I’m such a loser,’ or ‘This is too hard; why even try?’ We settle for defeat when, with a few minor attitude adjustments, we could open the door to amazing possibilities. The worst part of negative self-talk is that we don’t just limit ourselves, we close ourselves off from other’s support. Let’s begin by acknowledging that sometimes life is hard. And some of us have it harder than others.
How can you reduce the strain and drain produced by negative self-talk?
Here are three ways:
(1) Cut and paste.
Train yourself to recognize negative inner chatter the minute it starts and delete it immediately. If you have to, take a chainsaw to it. If it helps, make a ‘time out’ signal with your hands as a physical reminder to yourself. But don’t stop there. Replace those negative thoughts with positive self-talk.
(2) Adjust your tone.
You know how the doctor says, ‘This may sting a little,’ as he jabs a needle into your arm? Borrow his technique and reduce big ugly scar-for-life wordage to smaller, unintimidating blemish terms. ‘Impossible’ is a brick wall compared to ‘this may take some work’. Wouldn’t you rather tackle a project that’s ‘challenging’ rather than ‘unmanageable’?
(3) Be your own BFF (Blessed Friend Forever).
Using your BFF voice, intentionally over-dub that negative droning voice inside you. Speak to yourself like you would to your very best friend.
Reboot your mind. Re-programme your thoughts.
Positive self-talk is not a new concept. You need to; ‘Fix your thoughts on what is true… honorable… right… pure… lovely, and admirable… things that are excellent and worthy of praise.’
Here are three ways you can do that:
(1) Avoid comparisons
Each of us has a different skill set. You’re unique. The way you do things may differ from the techniques of others, but that doesn’t make it wrong. There’s almost always more than one way to achieve the same end-goal. Comparison is unwise, unfair, and fosters negativity. Unless you’re the reigning world champion, there’ll always be somebody better than you at a specific skill. So what?
(2) Tack on hope
There’s power in the word ‘yet’. It can miraculously transform your ‘I can’t’ perspective, into ‘I can with a little more time’. Have a growth mindset i.e not yet .
(3) Act positively to actually become positive
In Winning the Stress Challenge, Dr Nick Hall cites a study confirming that signals transmitted to a person’s brain when they’re behaving a certain way provoke similar physical and mental changes to those elicited by real emotional responses. In other words, putting on a happy face can truly make you feel happier. Try it!
Pessimism affects you spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Negativity is directly related to heart disease, immune system deficits, and the ability to cope with physical pain. The famous Mayo Clinic conducted a 30-year study of 800 patients—and the results are telling. The pessimists’ risk of early death was 19% higher than that of the optimists in the group.
In Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, Dr Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania concluded that optimism and pessimism affect your health almost as clearly as physical factors. Have you ever said, ‘I’m sick to death of this’? Then do something about it—quickly! If you hold onto that thought for too long – it may come true. One of the great findings of modern medical science is that the words we speak don’t just affect others, they affect us too. Indeed, sometimes they affect us even more! Words are powerful.
You believe and internalise what you repeatedly say. That means you have the God-given ability to change your perception of your own abilities from limited to limitless.
Strive to utilise as much positive self–talk as you are able to.
If you say you can you will.
If say you can’t you will not.
MUSIC ITEM
J Conolly played “Danse Boheimenne’ on the saxophone
TIENERTONEEL AWARDS
Congratulations to all the following boys on receiving awards for the two productions “Vriendin’ and ‘Soos jy leef’ .
“Vriendin”
2 X Gold for Sound & Best Sound Operator: Mr Steyn & S Mbonambi
1 X Silver technical aspects – Mr Steyn
1 X Silver Ensemble – T van Heerden and H. Delport
1 X Silver Sound choice
1 X Silver – Lighting – S Mbonambi
1 X Bronze Production overall
1 X Bronze Stage management -T van Heerden and H. Delport
1 X Bronze Directing – Mr Steyn
1 X Bronze Décor (Production)
1 X Bronze Set (Production)
1 X Bronze Script (Production)
1 X Bronze Sound and Lighting S Mbonambi
“Soos jy leef”
1 X Silver Sound – Mr Steyn and S Mbonambi
1 X Bronze Décor (Production)
1 X Bronze Directing – Mr Steyn
1 X Bronze Set (Production)
1 X Bronze Costumes (Production)
1 X Bronze Ensemble – W Pretorius, C Schutte, CJ Prinsloo, S Delport, H Delport, J Beauclerk, T van Heerden, D Jacobsz
1 X Bronze Script and Poster (Production)
1 X Bronze Technical aspects – Mr Steyn
1 X Bronze Production overall
2 X Bronze Acting – D Jacobsz, CJ Prinsloo
1 X Bronze Lighting – S Mbonambi
1 X Bronze Stage manager – W Pretorius, C Schutte, CJ Prinsloo, S Delport, H Delport, J Beauclerk, T van Heerden, D Jacobsz
“Soos jy leef” was announced winner as the most “Gees” award, which describes, best attitude, showing dedication and passion.
SPORT
Hockey:
Our 1st XI played out old foes Glenwood on Friday evening and won 3-2 in a hard fought victory. Well done to the team and coaches.
Congratulations to A Mthalane on his selection as a non-travelling reserve for the SA U21 hockey side.
Rugby:
The 2nd and 1st XV played against Glenwood away last Saturday. The 2nd XV lost 10-30 after putting up a sterling defensive effort in the first half, but appeared to run out of steam in the second half . They will no doubt bounce back this week on Goldstones.
The 1st XV under the leadership of Thunder put in an incredible, passionate and determined performance to win 20 -10 for the first time at Glenwood since 2006 – 15 years since College tasted victory! An outstanding effort by the whole team considering the tough week we as a school experienced.
Full 1st team match reports for Hockey and Rugby are here
WEEK AHEAD
- Trial exams continue for 6th Form
- Congratulations to the 36 5th form boys who are being interviewed this week for potential prefectship – we wish them all well
- On Wednesday the acting prefects and house leaders will be announced
- 1st XI soccer to play SCC away on Wednesday afternoon
- Thursday HC X Country
- 1st XI hockey, 2nd and 1st XV rugby to pay Glenwood on Saturday at home. This game will be televised live. Further arrangement to follow later in the week
I wish you all a very good healthy and Covid free and safe week
Pro Aris et Focis