When you look in the mirror, do you like who you see? Many people see their reflection and they instantly become critical of things they see or what they do. That little voice inside their head that tells them they aren’t good enough, or why did you do that decision. The voice that makes them question every decision or choice they made. If a person listens to that voice it can ruin their day, make one feel bad about who they are. It can create anxiety, and keep a person with looping thoughts. The voice that we so often listen to is our inner critic. Throughout my life, I have often listened to that still small voice and whispers in my ear, you are not worthy or you cannot do anything right. It is the voice that wants to protect us by instilling fear inside our mind with our thoughts as a protective measure. When we choose to listen to this critic we can get stopped in our tracks or worst not take any action at all. For many, this voice is the most powerful voice one can listen to.
The inner critic can be our worst enemy and loves when we are suffering and in pain. This voice can also chime in when good things are occurring in our lives, to make them second guess if they are truly deserving of the good things. This may seem very daunting, but there is good news. The inner critic can protect us but for many of us it can be very hurtful. The inner critic is responsible for many of the negative thoughts running through our heads. If we continue to entertain those thoughts, they can steal our joy, and happiness.
My positive thoughts reassure me that I am worthy and I can do anything I put my mind to. Whereas, the inner critic would whisper, who was I to think I could do anything. Let the positive thoughts guide you and happiness will prevail. When we choose to make peace with yourself and acknowledge the voice
If you want to have peace in your life, it important to make peace with yourself. Always question your thoughts and never believe everything your thoughts tell you. They can be wrong and if we listen to them, they can lead down the rabbit hole. We retain negative thoughts or memories easier than we do positive thoughts. The negative thoughts stick to us like glue whereas positive thoughts fall away like we are Teflon. Think about the last argument you had with a loved one. You can recall all the bad things but barely remember the positives that came out of the disagreement. I spent many years of my life listening to that voice and it kept me afraid and in the shadows. If I had continued to listen to the voice, I would not be sitting here writing this. I would have scrapped this article and just given up, but I chose to listen to peaceful voice that reassured me I can do this and just to breathe. You can quiet the inner critic and obtain joy and peace, but it will take work on your part to make the necessary changes to choose to follow peace and not the voice that always challenges your choices.
This article was originally published at Book “Happy for No Reason” (Shimoff & Kline, 2008 )acquired content from training certification course for “Happy for No Reason”. Reprinted with permission from the author.
