What are you telling yourself?

The way in which we talk to ourselves is one of the most powerful things we have in our lives. But what if the message is damaging and strips us of our true identity from the inside out?

I'm not sure where it started but as far back as I can remember there has been this little voice inside my head that tells me things of the horrible kind. You're fat, you're ugly, you should be a better person, nobody likes you, you'll never be good enough etc etc,  and through this constant onslaught of hatred I tried all kinds of things to quieten it - food, drugs, alcohol, men, fantasy - anything to make it go away. but it didn't.

After nearly 40 years of listening to that voice, and believing it, I was presented with an opportunity to do things differently and to uncover the truth about myself that I thought I already new.

What has been revealed to me is that none of those things that little voice told me were true, they were representations of my perception of me, the way in which my skewed reality was seeing me. You see, I had spent a lifetime being a victim of circumstance. Some inflicted upon me, some I inflicted upon myself. and I wore it like a cloak, covering me up and keeping me stuck. 

Recovering from my life had meant that I've had to take that cloak off, to look at my life and see it for what it truly is and to start to talk to myself in a loving, kind and caring way. This has been an empowering journey of discovery of self, of learning the truth and of course shining the light inside.

At times I have felt stuck, and once again taken out the cloak and put it on, but what I have found is that it no longer fits! I have changed the way in which I see myself. 

The journey out of the darkness can seem impossible and challenging at times, and can often feel like is all to hard and that the cloak is the only thing that fits. It is at these times that you listen not to the voice inside but to the ones of those that love you.

To learn to love myself I had to change the people around me, I had to find the ones that spoke the truth to me and didn't feed my story of hate that I told myself. So that when I took my cloak out and tried to put it on they told me I didn't need it anymore, that everything would be ok and that I was enough.

Today take a moment to listen to what you say to yourself, is it kind and loving? would you say it to a person you loved? is it really true?

Look around at who you surround yourself with, are they loving? do they support you to be these best version of yourself? 

If the answer to any of these is no then maybe this could be the opportunity you've been waiting for to make some changes in your life. 

The road to recovery has many opportunities for change. Do I take the path I always have? Or do I take a chance and see what's on the other side?

The choice is yours! 

Take a chance and what you might find is a whole new world of possibility.