The Voice

We all have a voice within that seems to tell us who we are. It corrects us and keeps us on a path that appears to be correct; a path that does not include error or doubt. This voice reminds us that we expect nothing but the best from ourselves; that anything short of the best is less than what we are capable of. At times, this voice bullies us. At times, it takes us back to parts of our lives when we felt broken or unsettled. This voice wants one thing: to keep us where we are and to avoid the complicated and uncertain path ahead.

This voice is scared; scared to consider that what it has been telling us may be inaccurate. We believe this voice because we wish to be safe - we may have believed this voice for so long that it has taken over our identities. This voice leaves us anxious, depressed, lonely, hopeless, and rigid. It makes successes failures and failures so insurmountable that we may feel lost.

The question is, how do we approach this voice? How do we live our lives intentionally so that we incorporate this important voice without submitting to it? After all, as harmful as this voice may be at times, it still helps us to self-correct. It helps us to identify what we can do better. The answer is not simple nor is it easy. We live our lives following this voice and cultivating our personalities with it as our backdrop. We are accustomed to listening to it, to defining ourselves by what it tells us.

It is because of this that this voice is very close to us. It is like an old friend that knows us better than we know ourselves. In recognizing this fact, we give ourselves credit for living a difficult life; one that is a constant battle against perfection, one that we choose to live every day. But if we can choose to live like this, maybe we can choose to live differently as well. Maybe there is a way to find a new path, to reveal new expectations.

There is one way to begin the journey out from underneath this voice. We can give ourselves permission to think, behave, and feel differently. When we do this, we can begin to approach the world and our lives with a new sense of curiosity. A door that before was closed and hidden is now open and revealed. It is in this space that we can find ourselves and uncover a healthy identity.