Long ago, in the gym at West Forsyth High School in North Carolina, we students would gather on some Friday afternoons for a pep rally before a big game. The pep band would kick off the rally, the coaches would bring the players to the floor for applause and cheers, and always the cheerleaders were waving pom-poms and leading chants, “We can do it, we can do it, we can! Do it, do it!” or, “We got the team, we got the fight, we’re gonna win this game tonight!”
Fast forward to 2020 when I was living alone in my daughter’s house in Virginia, paying some rent and acting as caretaker after she and her family moved to Pennsylvania. For the next several years, I spent about 80% of my time devoid of human contact as an anchorite. To get away from the solitude and the sameness of the environment, I frequented a local coffee shop or worked in the local library, but there were days when the most significant conversation might only be a hello to the clerk at the grocery store.
And that’s when I began talking to myself.
Normally, we associate such conversations as a sign of craziness, witnessed in some homeless person weaving down the street while gesticulating and talking to the air. We might also think of some old guy sitting in the lounge of a nursing home, muttering about the faults of the young or cursing some politician.
Not so.
Studies have shown that talking to ourselves can be tremendously beneficial. Talking when alone often makes it easier to learn new things, Dr. Robert Kraft points out, while also improving performance at work and promoting “self-distancing,” which allows us to address problems more objectively. He also notes that thinking out loud helps us “monitor our interior dialogue,” those times when we are jeerleading rather than cheerleading, beating ourselves up for faults and failures, thus inducing anxiety and even depression rather than looking at our difficulties in a balanced way.
The “explanation effect,” writer Michael Simmons explains, occurs when learning a complex topic and you “explain it to yourself or to someone else by writing it out, talking it out, or drawing it out.” Once again, numerous studies support the efficacy of talking aloud for learning and discovery.
Talking to the self is also key to cognitive behavioral therapy, a technique used by therapists to help clients battle depression by identifying and pushing aside patterns of negativity. The ultimate goal is to teach these individuals to become their own therapists, recognizing when their interior conversations are turning dark and changing their thoughts and feelings to more productive ways of coping with the world. Often rejecting these negatives aloud is a help.
For me, talking to myself brings its greatest rewards when it becomes a pep squad, boosting my morale and nudging me forward. I was delighted a few months ago to read that singer Dolly Parton, who was for years apprehensive before making a stage entrance, stood behind the curtains not only praying but chanting to herself, “I think I can, I think I can!” She took that line from one of her all-time favorite books, “The Little Engine That Could.” That was her cheerleading squad at work.
While I don’t use a mantra like Parton, I have found that even a few simple words of encouragement, like, “Come on, now, time to get this done,” or “This too shall pass,” and “Onward and upward,” will carry me forward. These are signals to get back on track and accomplish whatever task has engaged me.
Perhaps best of all is to begin the day with a short prayer of gratitude spoken aloud, repeating that prayer as needed. This simple act of thanksgiving clears the scrub out of the pathway and makes the day’s journey easier. Writer and teacher Dale Carnegie once said, “By talking to yourself about the things you have to be grateful for you can fill your mind with thoughts that soar and sing.” “Soar and sing” may be slightly exaggerated, but not by much.
Start a pep rally of your own and see what happens.
Jeff Minick is a father of four and grandfather to many. A former history, literature, and Latin teacher, Jeff now writes prolifically for The Epoch Times, American Essence Magazine, and several other publications.
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email [email protected]. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News.
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