We're constantly looking for new ways to integrate inspiration in the daily lives of Precious Moms everywhere and sometimes the boost you're looking for is just a page away! Our new author interview series, By the Book, profiles great new books and the authors behind them. This month, learn more about Jennifer Rothschild, a gifted author whose faith helps her navigate life’s obstacles. In Jennifer’s new book, Self Talk, Soul Talk: What to Say When You Talk to Yourself, she reveals seven key sayings that will bring balance and wellness to the soul including, Tune In. Look Up. Calm Down. Look Back. Chill Out. Press On. Lift Up. And what busy Mom out there couldn’t benefit from some balance in her life?

Weaving tales of her own personal story with soul-talk questions and inspirational passages Rothschild provides sensible advice to readers who, like her, are determined to pursue healthy and productive lives but have been sidetracked along the way.  Learn more about the book in our Q&A with the Rothschild:

PM: What is soul talk?
JR:Over the years, I have gradually learned what to say when I talk to myself, and that has truly made all the difference in my life. After years of struggling beneath the weight of my own slander and lies, I have learned to speak truth into my soul. It’s what I call soul talk.

PM: How does soul talk work?
JR: Everybody practices self talk, but few of us actually take time to think about the things we say to ourselves. The process is so natural we don’t even notice it. Amazingly, much of our self talk is false. The words we say shape the way we think about ourselves. They influence our emotions, our thoughts, and our decisions. They resurface in our conversations with other people. They can spur us on to live meaningful, productive lives, or they can drag us down to lethargy and despair. Soul talk is about replacing the lies you may have been telling yourself with the truth.

PM: What kinds of struggles with self talk have you had personally?
JR: My steady flow of disapproving thoughts and self talk once formed a constant stream. I badgered, nagged, devalued, and said cutting words to myself. At times, all those dark, negative put-downs have felt like a raging river, tossing me mercilessly until I thought I might drown in my own self-condemnation.

PM: What was the physical setback that you faced in your teens?
JR: At the age of 15, I became legally blind due to a disease called retinitis pigmentosa. Even though I received that difficulty with grace and resolve, the extra challenges of the disability and the knowledge that blindness was inevitable brought even more opportunities for me to struggle with negative thoughts and destructive self talk. For me, blindness is a circumstance that opens the door to a host of other bewildering issues. One of the biggest daily realities I face is the stress of not being able to drive, read, or enjoy independence.

PM: What is the paradox of emotions?
JR: If you try to think with your feelings, you’ll fall into all manner of false conclusions. Emotions are supposed to serve and strengthen us. Left to themselves, however, they enslave and deplete us. We need a thought closet well stocked with timeless truth, or we will clothe ourselves with the feelings of the moment.

PM: How important is physical well-being including exercise and healthy eating?
JR: Living a healthy lifestyle is so important to our mental well-being. Never discount the impact of physical wellness on our souls’ wellness. Feelings of despair might really be our bodies’ signal that we need to meet some basic needs. Your body needs adequate rest, healthy food, and moderate exercise.

PM: How important is mental well-being? How can we stimulate this?
JR: Brains like to be challenged. Your mind needs to have something to do, or it will create something to do—something that might not be so constructive. If you don’t fully strengthen your brain, it will wiggle and jiggle itself just to alleviate the dullness and find a channel for all its energy. Spend a few minutes each day reading something that interests and challenges you. Pick up a journal and record your thoughts and questions. Join a book club or audit a class from your local university. Feed your curiosity and you’ll stimulate an enjoyable, insatiable hunger.

PM: How important is our spiritual well-being?
JR: Hopelessness, fear and depression often grow out of unsatisfied longings. C.S. Lewis said, “If I can find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” We can try to fill the longing with relationships, religion, volunteerism, or just being good. But the deep ache from the bottom of our souls can only be satisfied in a relationship with God.

PM: Is it healthy to remember the past? What memories should we revisit?
JR: The real power of any moment is fully realized when it is remembered. The experience might have been painful or pleasant, but its intensity and meaning grow when we remember and reflect upon it. Remembering is essential to the health of our souls. So we must tell our souls to look back often. Memories store great anthologies of stories that tell us who we are. They become intimate reminders of our personal histories. However, tell your soul to look back only at what is profitable. Profitable memories are those that add to your soul wellness rather than subtract from it.

PM: How destructive can fear become in our lives? What’s the alternative?
JR: We can’t ever side with fear, because fear is never on our side. And we can’t let fear and despair shake and intimidate us. Fear betrays; hope never does. Fear and despair make us quiver; hope makes us unshakable. Rather than giving into fear and despair, we tell our souls to hope. Hope will always be on your side, cheering you on and defending you. Hope anchors us because it provides spiritual grounding. Hope brings stability to every part of our being: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. We speak the language of hope when we tell our souls to look up.

PM: How can we cope with our busy lifestyles? Where can we find time to rest?
JR: Life is busy. The demands are great, and we seem to have no time for rest. So much of our self-talk is directed at revving ourselves up. Excessive revving up, however, only leads to petering out. Daily we must tell ourselves to chill out. Rest isn’t only for our tired bodies. Weary souls need it too—our wills, our minds, and our emotions. The choice to rest is ours.

PM: How can we press on despite fear and failure?
JR: Steady, small actions will slowly reduce the big feeling that is paralyzing you. Just because you have failed at something does not mean you are a failure. If you quit, the world will be lacking what you alone bring to it. If you continue to feed your feelings of failure and defeat, those dark emotions will grow, creeping across your soul like long winter shadows. But if you begin to starve those feelings, they will slowly die.

PM: How can we become less selfish and “others centered”?
JR: It’s our nature to lift ourselves up, to be egocentric. Looking back at my life, I can say for sure that the most miserable times of my life have been when I was the most self-centered, self-aware and self-promoting. When we tell our souls to get the spotlight off our own preoccupations and onto the needs of others, we reopen the potential for joy in our lives. Only selfless, other-centered people are truly happy. They have learned the all-important key. When we lift others up, we grow stronger, healthier and happier.

To purchase the book, visit Amazon.com

About Jennifer Rothschild:
Jennifer Rothschild’s life drastically changed at the age of fifteen when she lost her sight. Through the years, she struggled with the inner-thoughts she calls “self-talk” that shook her confidence and left her feeling insecure and frustrated. Despite these moments, Rothschild has found fulfillment through her faith, her marriage and her children. 

Known for her substance, and a down-to-earth style, Jennifer weaves together colorful illustrations, universal principles, and music to help audiences find contentment, walk with endurance, and celebrate the ordinary. Through her signature wit and poignant story-telling, audiences are prompted to look beyond their circumstances to find unique “gifts,” in unusual packaging.

Jennifer Rothschild is the author of several books, including Lessons I Learned in the Dark. She is also a gifted recording artist and founder of an online magazine for women, WomensMinistry.Net.  Jennifer and her husband Dr. Phil Rothschild reside near Springfield, MO with their two sons. For more information about Jennifer, visit www.JenniferRothschild.com.