Prescriptions for the Heart Part 3: Recommendations for Self-Talk

Self-Talk: Let's Recite Our Favorite Phrases

The title of this column, "Prescriptions for the Heart," is borrowed from a book by a man named Hayao Kawai.

Whether my heart was ailing or not,
the words of Hayao Kawai strangely
resonated with my heart,
and each and every sentence
became a prescription for my heart.

As I mentioned in the previous column,
when your heart is tired and you feel lethargic,
the first thing you should approach is your "body."
I talked about eating well, sleeping well, exercising well,
and doing things that make your body happy without hesitation.

As your body becomes fulfilled,
you can feel your heart gradually becoming honest, flexible,
and resilient.

Then, it's time for "self-talk"!!

Consciously repeat the words you feel you need right now
within yourself over and over again.
They can be your own original words,
or you can choose your favorite phrases related to your mindset.

In my case, those were the words of Hayao Kawai.
Let me introduce a few of them.

100% correct advice is rarely useful

As a teacher, these words are a constant warning to me.
"Let's keep our promises," "Let's be considerate," "Value your time,"
"Studying can expand your possibilities."
Advice that is perfectly logical from every angle and that everyone agrees with
can actually be strangling the students.

After all, the students are well aware of that correctness, but they just can't do it...
If you corner someone with 100% correct advice,
they may lose their escape route
and might lash out at you.
To ensure I never forget that there are people suffering
in the shadow of "correctness" or whose potential is being denied,
I keep these words as a golden rule.

Irritation indicates a lack of foresight

Anger is said to be a secondary emotion.
When you are angry at someone,
isn't there actually anxiety or fear lurking underneath?

When I was a new teacher, I was irritated by senior teachers who lacked motivation.
How can they treat the students so carelessly?
Can these people really be called teachers??

Thinking back now, I was just denying things that weren't my own
simply because I thought I was right.

I wasn't confident in my own correctness,
and because I didn't understand the methods and ways of thinking of my seniors,
I think I was actually incredibly anxious.
It was a vain pride
that tried to barely place myself above them
by denying them.

When I understood that to the core,
I gained the foresight that "what others do doesn't matter; I just need to stick to my own beliefs," and from then on, I stopped getting irritated more than necessary.

Of course, I still get irritated sometimes,
but I am no longer swayed by that irritation.

Take it easy with being serious too

This is one of my favorite phrases.
I often say it to my students too (laughs).

Being overly motivated or too rigid can sometimes cause trouble for those around you,
which is a common occurrence in school settings.
In such cases, if you say in a humorous tone,
"You should take a break from being so serious," it can
suddenly lighten a cramped and rigid atmosphere.

I am not denying the value of being serious.
However, being serious all the time can easily lead to tunnel vision,
and there are often cases where your efforts do not pay off.

Sometimes, the opposite of being serious—being a "fool"—
can be incredibly valuable.

Could the "fool" in this case be rephrased as "playfulness"?

By not being bound by stereotypes,
and by being free and honest,
trying to solve the tasks in front of you while finding them interesting,
you can gain more supporters and accomplish greater things.

As a reminder to cherish that sense of playfulness,
I often use the phrase, "Take a break from being so serious."

In this way, Hayao Kawai has introduced many
profound and meaningful words,
so I would be happy if you could read the original works rather than relying on my clumsy explanations.
I highly recommend them!

Lastly, I would like to introduce one of my father's sayings
that I am particularly fond of.
It is one of my important self-talk phrases.

I'm healthy today, and my farts smell.

Being alive is all about having "smelly farts."