Listen to the Loud Voices

I have a lovely friend named Amanda, who also happens to be a blogger.  Occasionally, she writes guest posts for another friend of ours, Ian, who happens to own a lovely, little company called Double Under Wonder.  Last week she wrote one of these posts and it struck a chord with me.  Here is the original post.  

One more than one occasion, I've talked about the voices in our heads...specifically the voices in my head and what big, fat liars they are.  In her post, Amanda states the following:

I find that most of the athletes next to me at the box have an ability to talk themselves into working harder than they think is possible, to push through when they wanna stop. I think, in their minds (and sometimes out loud, here's looking at you, Sarah), they say things like, "Come on! You can do it! One more! You've got this!" 

She goes on to say more about what goes on in her own head.

...in my mind, I am saying things like, "Come on, you can't do this. You are gonna die. You should quit now." I'm not kidding.  This is the mantra in my head during almost every workout that takes longer than 20 minutes.

I can't say that I'm an elite athlete, but I do pretty well for someone pushing 40.  And I like to think I'm only getting better from here on out.  What I would counter with is not that those elite athletes don't hear negative voices.  I believe they do.  They are just talking back to them.  At least that's what I'm doing.  I hear those voices in my head that want to quit when I'm doing something hard, whether it be a CrossFit workout, a karate test, or working through my budget with my husband.  I have just learned that voice is a liar, and so I talk back to it.  I have to talk back louder than the voice in my head that is telling me to quit, or that I don't deserve to be exceptional, or I don't deserve to grow my giftings.  And that's just not true.  God put me here on purpose.

This applies to other people and ourselves...

This week when you're working at something hard that makes you want to quit, talk back.  Look at where you are going.  Look at where you are growing.  Tell that big liar in your head that it's wrong. You can keep going.  Just because you've had that voice in your head your whole life, doesn't mean it's your friend or that you can trust it.  Talk back with truth.

Make it a beautiful day, friends.

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