Your Inner Voice
Do you have an inner voice? It’s a trick question, you do. Your inner voice is your thinking. Your brain offers you thoughts that you attach to the many wonderful and sometimes awful circumstances in your world. It’s the human experience.
Let me ask you, is your inner voice (I feel as though we should name her or him…) mostly friend or foe? During a typical day you can have as many as 50,000 single thoughts. Most are automatic and non-consequential. Thoughts such as “I have these items planned today”, “I need to reach out to my cousin for her birthday”, “I’m enjoying this book”, “Caffeine or decaf?” that’s all good, and don’t need much attention to them.
However there’s also that voice that peeps out in bigger ways, one that might not be so helpful. Thoughts such as “I am not enough”, “I always seem to get it wrong”, “My manager doesn’t respect me”, “I never catch a break,” “I hate my appearance.” Now THOSE inner voice thoughts are worth looking at, because they could be just stories. Your brain likes to offer thoughts that it’s used to. If you have a tendency to think along the “beat me up” track, that’s what you will continue to get. So much so, it becomes more than merely thoughts, but beliefs. If they are not friendly, they need to be interrupted.
My mom had an expression, “don’t eat the dog food” boy was she right. Little did I know the dog food could be served to me, from me. Your inner voice is your biggest cheerleader and also a high wind advisory in your brain ready to say “I told you so” when disappointments come. Don’t let him or her (did you come up with a name yet?) have the last say unless it’s something that serves you.
This is our last week on the subject of confidence, and I wanted to draw the connection between self-confidence and your inner voice because one influences the other. A person with self-confidence has an inner voice that is a friend. An encourager built inside their brain and heart.
Wouldn’t it be great to have that voice say, “This is hard for you, I am seeing you try anyway”, “Today was a dilly, things didn’t go as planned, you did great”, “Regardless of the outcome, I’ve always got you.” Man, I’d marry THAT voice.. Ok I think I did, his name is Craig! But regardless of husband's wonderful words and support, if my inner voice doesn’t want to acknowledge them, it goes nowhere. Get on the train!
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Grateful for you,
Anne