Voices in our heads
We all have thought loops and thinking patterns that play over and over in our heads. Most of us started getting these messages when we were young. The voice speaking the words may have changed a little since we have gotten older, but if we look deeply enough and listen very carefully, we can usually find the original voice. It may have been a parent, a sibling, a school bully…
The sound is different now, or the face attached to it may have changed a little, but it carries with it that same old message…
- “You will never be good enough.”
- “You are a fraud, they will all see through you.”
- “You are going to screw this up.”
- “What was I thinking when I started this project?”
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And, my personal favorite is, “You can do better.”
I know what you are thinking. “Well that last one doesn’t sound so bad.” True. On the surface it sounds so innocent, innocuous and motivating… “You can do better.” But this innocent little phrase, when dosed to me during my formative years, was not accompanied by love. There was no specific goal, no end in sight, no reward. “You can do better. You can do better. You can do better.” All stick with no carrot. But I digress…
We are hard-wired to repeat our internal messages over and over and over.
We stay stuck because we don’t or feel we cannot let go of the past and the messages associated with it.
Fixing the broken record
These messages that we keep playing for ourselves need to be brought out into the clear light of day, and seriously examined for the truth or the lies that they tell us. Why is it that 20, 30 or 40+ years later, we are still calling ourselves unworthy, not enough? Why do we hide behind and inside our fear? Our fear of success? Our fear of failure? Our fear of being not enough? Of being too much?
If you follow my blog at all, then you know that I believe that a central source of truth for me is the living and active Word of God.
God has prepared our hearts and minds to be transformed by His Word. We must ferret out each lie; identify it for what it is, and reject the toxic thoughts associated with them.
Then we must replace the toxic reel with a much better reel, a superior pattern, an upgrade, if you will. We must replace the toxic thoughts with the inerrant truth of God’s word.
Proverbs 4:23 tells us to “carefully guard our thoughts because they are the source of true life!”
Proverbs 27:3a, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” (KJV)
A more modern interpretation might sound something like this…
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We are, and we become what we think about…all the time!
What message (s) do you need to leave in the past? When do you plan to start?
