"My Loving Letter to Myself"  is something I wrote to myself when I realized how "schizophrenic" I am!!!    Allow me to explain...
 
There are times when I am in a "good and right mind" and then *other* times when I am weak, and in a very foolish place...  This sometimes leaves me wondering if there are, perhaps, TWO of me!!!  But then I remember that Paul dealt with ~ battled ~ the very same condition!!!  Here is Romans 7:15~23 where he talks about this:
 
15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.  16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.  21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, 23but I see in my members (or "person") another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.
 
A few months ago I started getting more frustrated with myself and how terribly (literally) "double-minded" I was!!!  One day I'd be Miss Strong-in-the-Lord, remembering all His benefits, and help and taking Him up on His offer of GRACE.  I'd look at a snack I really did not need at the moment, and remember my plan, and my goals, and my reasons for wanting to lose weight, and, "by the power of the Lord at work within me," I would pass on the treat.  ...  And then the next day ~ or maybe it would even be just the next HOUR or MINUTE ~ I would find myself cramming an unneeded snack into my mouth, completely forgetting ~ or was it IGNORING ~ all my wonderful aspirations, inspirations, and motivations!!!!!!! 
 
In particularly foggy seasons, I'd go for weeks or even months without thinking a thing of my goals, and the weight would slowly, one bite at a time, pile back on.  And eventually I'd be identifying with verse 24 (of the above Romans 7) which reads:  "24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" ~ which was a very accurate way of describing the condition I was in!!!!  DEATHLY is truly what my body felt like, in response to the abuse I was inflicting upon myself, my "temple of the Holy Spirit." 
 
Speaking of Whom ~ the Holy Spirit ~ He must surely have found it difficult to dwell in such a cluttered "temple"!  But at the rate I was going ~ of eating unwisely, not losing weight and not exercising ~ the Holy Spirit would probably not have had the usual lifespan in which to have to endure residing in *my* "temple" because it would have worn out much sooner!
 
But thankfully I didn't have to STAY dwelling in death, because the answer to verse 24 comes next(!!!):  "25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"  Yes, JESUS Himself is the "Answer"!  He is the "Way" (to become healthy); the Truth (about weight loss), and the Life (of freedom from food idolotry).  So how do we GET all this to become REALITY for and in us?!?!?!
 
Let's continue with the rest of verse 25:  "So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." ... which takes us back to the "two me's" thing.     Notice them in that last sentence there in verse 25?  It boils down to the "flesh man" versus the "spirit man." I got tired of the "flesh man" winning too much of the time.  (Well, winning ANY of the time would be "too much"!  But you know what I mean!   )   So, in my journalling one day, a *good* day, to be exact, I got the idea to start writing a letter to myself.  Specifically, the letter would be from my "right-minded self" to my "wrong-minded ~ also known as my wretched ~ self"! 
 
In this letter, I did not give in to the temptation to belittle or chew myself out, much as I FELT like doing so.  In fact I'm actually too good at doing so!  I have said things to myself that I would NEVER say to my children or a friend!!!  Things like "YOU IDIOT!!!!  WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!?  DO YOU NOT REMEMBER ONE LITTLE THING YOU HAVE LEARNED?!?!  IS YOUR MEMORY THE SIZE OF A PEA?!?!"  You know...  kind, soft, uplifting, sweet things like that...   I wouldn't have that friend for very long if I did!
  
So what *kinds* of things did I write? ...  First, my "heart" toward myself was this:  I spoke to myself as a loving, gracious, wise, patient father, a kingly type father, might speak to his deeply loved, but naughty, erring, wayward little princess...  Gently correcting her in love, patiently showing her the way to think, walk, and come OUT of the prison she has been trapped in for so long.  I do not believe that I made all this up or merely imagined it.  I believe that I felt the Father's Heart for me, and "felt" and heard his heart and words for me as I wrote.   :-)   And I wanted to KEEP these ~ not my own words of condemnation and frustration ~ at the very top of my mind!
 
So THAT is what's contained in my  "Loving Letter to Myself"!  To see what this is, exactly, click here for the Word version, or click here for the RTF version
    

  
THREE QUICK "EXTERNALLY-RELATED" NOTES:
 
~ You'll notice that the print in my booklet is in two colors:  black is what I am saying to myself; red is what I am saying to God. 
 
~ Also, this is in booklet form because I want to eventually print it out for myself as such ~ which would be the same half-page format as my Prayer Journal is in.  I'll then be able to slip it inside either that or my Bible, which is the same size too.     Plus, with this half-page format, I can put one topic per page.
  
~ And lastly, you will see a lovely little picture on most of the pages.  Different sizes, but the same picture...  I explain it in the letter, but I wanted to mention something *about* it...  This is a picture I found years ago in a magazine, and saved in a file, and scanned into my computer so I could use it for this purpose...  so I have NO idea where I got it.  If I were ever to publish this booklet, I would not use this photo since I can't give credit and don't know the source.  So please do not publish this in ANY form; it's just something from my personal journaling, and I'm sharing it with you on a personal basis.     
 
I have heard a short, wise tale called "a tale of two dogs", attributed to an un-named Native American elder.  It goes like this:
 

 
If you'd like more "food for thought" on the "care and feeding" of that "white dog" ~ i.e. your "spirit man" ~ see an article I wrote called "Hearing God 101."
   
    
 

Click here to go (back) to my article entitled

"My Humble Thoughts on Losing Weight and Exercise"

which gives the context of the above letter.

In fact, if you have not read it, that's

where you need to start.

I got all these verses from a wonderful

on your "BACK button" to return here.)