We didn’t get to choose the life we were given. We were given no instruction manuals or even so much of a heads-up on what’s steering in our direction. All of us, in this beautiful thing called life, were tossed in the murky waters of our existence and were told to learn—learn how to swim, how to play, how to splash, how to tread, and occasionally how to drown.
Learn. All we are ever doing is educating ourselves on survival, perhaps without even realizing it. We are constantly rechecking our defense mechanisms, scanning ways to look out for our emotional barriers. Why? Simple: nobody likes to get hurt. Whether we’re being hurt piece by piece over time, or even just being full-out smashed on the floor, thus, being shattered into a million different pieces like a porcelain doll, getting hurt sucks. Period.
But what do you do when the thing that’s hurting you is you?
Look, I will be honest, it’s hard to silence the inner voices in your head. (Everyone’s got one, don’t even try and fight me on this.) I think recently I came to a bitter realization that maybe the inner voices in your head don’t ever become silent. I know that’s probably the most depressing thing you’ve heard all day today, but I’m only trying to think realistically. Is it really, truly, honestly possible to evade your mind from negative thoughts? Is it possible for a person to always be happy? Is it possible for a person’s first instinct when they come across a major problem in their life to just shrug and continue to smile? Teeth and everything? Instagram worthy smile?
It is probably not possible to silence the voices in your head that are constantly second-guessing you, judging you, criticizing you, challenging you, etc. It is very easy to allow it to grasp you by the handhelds and take complete control of you, but that is where you draw the line. When that voice tries to second-guess you, judge you, criticize you, and challenge you, you don’t fight it. Why? Simple: you can’t argue with something that makes no sense. The inner voices will try to rationalize their behavior, but that is when you go, “Yeah, yeah, whatever, now let me zip up my boots.”