You Have the Power: The Choice is Yours If You Believe
That voice that is always playing in your head…. It’s yours.
Some of it is pre-programmed — meaning you were born that way. Some of it was programmed while you were growing up. If your parents told you that you were awesome, it helped you develop solid self-esteem. If you heard “not good enough” or “everyone must like you,” well, you may have gotten some screwy ideas about living up to others’ values rather than your own.
That internal voice — which is your own — affects how you feel even if it is lying.
Think about it. If you are always judging yourself, putting yourself down, and beating yourself up, you will feel lousy. If you are always telling yourself that the world, others, and life aren’t safe, you will feel scared. And this is despite that none if it may be true.
For example, I have generalized anxiety disorder. My inner voice tells me scary stories that often don’t make any sense, and if I listen, I feel a little crazy. My voice tells me that I have done something wrong when I don’t know what that is. My voice tells me that I could have accidentally poisoned my kids when I gave them medication. My voice tells me that I missed something at work and bad shit is going down. My voice tells me that something bad is about to happen just because I feel weird.
Our inner voices may be spot on at certain times and off in left field other times. It can be hard to know when ourselves.
But that doesn’t mean you are at the mercy of your internal voice. You have the power to talk back to it. You have the power to ignore it. You have the power to decide what is real and what is created. You first have to believe in your power, and then practice it Every. Single. Day.
Belief in personal power is no small feat either. Because of past brainwashing, we may even tell ourselves that we have no power or control or that we “can’t.” Again, just because these thoughts come to mind doesn’t mean they are true.
How do I know that we all have personal? It’s science. The frontal lobes of the brain are also called “the executive.” They are in charge of judgment and decision making. They stop us from saying everything we think. They put the brakes on action. We all have frontal lobes, which means we have the ability to analyze information and to decide how to respond.
It all starts with paying attention to what your voice is saying and challenging it. Ask yourself about the evidence that proves what you are thinking is true. Ask yourself if it is garbage from the past. Ask yourself if the thoughts are helpful — I mean even if I screw up, is it helpful to go on and on beating myself up? (Hint: the answer is no.)
We are each faced with the choice of whether or not to listen to internal voices that are cruel, negative, and crazy-making. Clearly, if we choose to listen, we become demoralized, irritable, and wild-eyed.
The process of negative self-talk may be so automatic that you don’t realize it is happening, but you can stop it with attention and practice.
People get super irritated with me when I say that it is a choice, but I have to believe that we all have the power to change. At any time, we have the power to choose whether or not to believe bullshit others used to control us. We have the power to fight fear, anxiety, negativity.
We all have the power to move on, motherfucker, and transcend.
