That voice in your head has a lot of power over you.
It jabbers on all day long, and for some people, all night long too. That voice can say the sweetest things and the nastiest things about you and everyone you love.
And you need to stop believing it.
Our heads are full of a lot of junk. It’s estimated that the human mind has between 60,000 and 80,000 thoughts per day.
How many of those are loving? How many of those are positive? How many are caring?
I’m coming at this from a personal perspective, because it’s something I’m working on right now. My brain got stuck in a loop recently and I’ve had to actively work at deconstructing that loop.
Somewhere along the line I started calling myself ‘Dummy.’ It probably started from something I caught from a movie or something I overheard out and about in the world, and it stuck, then grew. Kind of like a nasty virus.
I’m sure it started out innocently enough, as a kind of joke to myself, but it’s evolved into something monstrous and, well, dangerous to my well being.
So, I’ve taken to calling myself dummy everytime I mess something up.
Drop something on the floor? Wow, dummy, good going.
Make a stray mark on a painting? Look what you did dummy.
Say something I didn’t particularly want to say? You’re a dummy, why did you say that?
Forget about an important event? How could you do this? What a dummy you are!
As I said, I don’t know when it started or how, but it’s stuck, and it pops up every day. My rational self is well aware that I’m not, in fact, a dummy, but this voice in my head tells me that I am many times every day.
And you have one too, but maybe it’s telling you something different. Maybe your voice is calling you fat, or forgetful, lazy, angry, or stupid.
We all have these self deprecating parts of ourselves, these nasty bits of brain that get stuck in a nonsense loop, and worst of all, we start believing this shit to be true.
It. Is. Not. True.
You can’t succumb to this nonsense that your brain is telling you. You are not what you think you are, and if you, like me, have been telling yourself these terrible things, it’s time to stop.
For the longest time I didn’t think anything of this ‘dummy’ business. Then I heard one of my students call another student a dummy and realized just how awful it is.
After having a talk with that kid about this terrible behavior I had to have a talk with myself too. I’m making a conscious effort to stop that self deprecating thought train.
And I hope you do too. You’re allowed to make mistakes. You’re supposed to fail sometimes. You’re human, allow yourself to be.