What Are Your Voices Telling You?
We all have them...those voices that fill our airwaves and our minds with messages that can either tear us down or build us up. Those voices belonging to our families, our friends, strangers, and even ourselves. They live in the comments on social media and in our text messages, emails, and voicemails. They crawl around in our minds, stirring up feelings and emotions. They’re our backseat drivers, influencing our concentration and affecting the way in which we reach our goals. They can even determine if we reach our goals...when we let them.
These voices play tricks on us, altering our perceptions and making us believe things are different than they are. They tell us things we’d never tell ourselves. Things we’d never tell another person. They tell us what we’re worth, what we look like vs. what we should look like, and what matters. They have the power to make us cry or laugh, excited, or down right depressed. They can cause so much pain or create so much love. The voices in my mind are different than the voices in your mind and in our friends’ minds. We all hear different voices, though sometimes the voices may be saying similar things to you as they are to others. These voices are tailored to our individual personalities and wirings, influenced by the people we’ve surrounded ourselves with and the lives we’ve lived. These voices are powerful. So powerful that people have given themselves entirely up to the voices. These are the same voices that have led countless people to end their lives, to take what’s “theirs,” or to give everything they have. These voices have been fed by greed and guilt, led to war, and destroyed families. The voices aren’t always true. Other times, they’re so true that they never should have been voiced, because sometimes people can’t handle the truth.
It’s been said that we can train ourselves to alter the voices. If we walk around daily with negative voices floating around in our heads, we can learn how to turn those negative voices into positive ones. We can redeem ourselves from the lives we’ve allowed the negative voices to create. We can change our entire perspective and outcome in life by changing the types of voices we allow. The dialogues we share among ourselves have been nurtured from the very beginning of our lives, so turning the page and changing the direction of these dialogues can be some of the most challenging goals we work toward. However, if we put in the time and effort, altering our voices from negative to positive will be among our highest achievements. Just like any other relationship, this change will require ongoing effort and maintenance.
When we look at what it takes to change our own voices, we have to take a look at the voices of those around us, as well. Not the voices our friends and family have with themselves, but the voices they share with us. The input they provide, the opinions they provide, and the advice they give. Even when attempting to help, the dialogue we have with others can have a huge impact on our own voices. If you’ve ever had someone tell you that they “don’t think your idea is a good one” and that “you should maybe try something else”, they likely said these things because they felt it was in your best interest. What they didn’t realize is that they may be preventing you from fulfilling your greatest purpose. The fears and hesitations that others place upon us can become our own fears and steer the directions of our own voices. Allowing the fears of others to become our own fears can be the greatest tragedies we’ve ever lived.
The negativity in another’s voice only validates our own negative voice that much more. Be careful of what you allow others to say to you. And when you find yourself in the presence of negative talk, address it or walk away. It is always okay to uninvite a negative conversation from our lives, as our mental health is one of our greatest treasures, and we are the ones who live with the consequences of the negative dialogue. If the negativity comes from a person you value, try to redirect the conversation into a positive one. If your attempts to shine light aren’t working, try to end the conversation altogether, asking that the negative thoughts not be shared so openly. It may even help to explain that you are trying to prevent the other person’s negative talk from affecting your own voice. If this does not put a stop to the negative voice, end the conversation by walking away. While being there for our friends and family is important, it doesn’t give them the right to impact our own voices in a way that can be detrimental to our health and progress in our own lives. The more negative voices we allow in from the outside, the harder it can be to alter our own voices and to nurture positive relationships with ourselves.
If we wish to be our greatest selves, we must work toward positivity. Our voices are vessels, leading us to our greatest successes or our ultimate demises.
What do your voices tell you? When you look into the mirror, are you hearing awesome things like, "You're beautiful," and "Today is a great day!" Or are you hearing things like, "You need more sleep," and "What is wrong with you?" If it's the latter, make a sign or take a marker to your mirror and write one or two positive things you'd like to continuously tell yourself. It can be more if you need. My mirror is filled with one liners that remind me of why I have to keep working hard to turn my dreams into my reality. Take this first step to changing your voice, and then pay attention to how you feel when your outlook is positive. Notice what it looks like when your voice is nice to you and saying positive things. Write down the things that happened to lead you to hear these nice things and nurture your routines to encompass more of these positive vibes. Altering our perceptions and voices takes a lot of care and attention that we must learn to harness. Don't let a positive moment slip by you without acknowledging why it is positive. As you do this, you'll learn what it is that you need in your life to live a more positive, vibrant truth. Your voice will follow along.
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