The voices are quite familiar. “Who do you think you are? You’re not an expert! Why would anyone believe you? Nobody will be interested in what you want to share. It’s already been written. You’re not worthy of success. You can’t be trusted. You’re not a writer.”
OK. You get the picture, I don’t need to go on. These voices you hear rolling over and over again in your mind are debilitating. I know, because you’ve told me so and because I grappled with those same voices for years. (And, there are some I’m still working on… )
So, I want to share with you what works for me – and what I believe will work for you – to help quiet these frustrating voices so you can believe in yourself.
It’s all about perspective. I can’t help but think of Marianne Williamson’s quote from Our Deepest Fear… “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be… ”
It’s probably a quote you’ve heard before, but let’s sit with what she’s really talking about… and the perspective that changes everything. You see, if you’ve been given the gift of an inspiration or idea that is placed on your heart with a yearning to share it… that ALONE is qualification enough. Who are you not to be all that?!
The insight – the moment of clarity in which you know you have something to share with tohers – THAT is the moment of your deepest truth. All the other stuff is the human mind (and ego) trying to keep you safe, protected and in your comfort zone.
Yet, when you connect with the TRUTH in your heart, you come to understand there’s no doubt you are qualified; that your message is valuable; that it will help those people it’s meant for; that you have something to contribute that will make a difference.
As Rev. Michael Beckwith says, “God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.” So, if you have a calling to share your wisdom on the pages of a book, or any other way, you ARE qualified. It is the passion, desire, and your own transformational journey that will make a difference to others. Not some external standard of what someone else’s projection is of what it means be an author/expert/light in the world.
The next time your voices creep up… shift up to a HIGHER perspective. And, allow yourself to see that you are qualified, you are valuable and you are worthy… and that you CAN do it! Simply because you ARE!
It’ll help tremendously for you to perhaps do what I do to help myself get connected with the highest in me – when the voices of doubt and fear are trying to take over. I sit, in silence. Yep. I get away from my desk, retreat to my altar, light a few candles, connect with the Divine, offer gratitude for the gift of God’s grace in my life and simply sit in that space as I feel the wash of love, compassion, understanding and light fill me.
Sometimes I sit for 5 minutes, sometimes I can be in that state for an hour. I simply allow myself to relish in that connection with the ultimate Source of all things, and to feel my unique gift… that gift that only I can bring, in the way I bring it.
The same is true for you. Only YOU can bring your gift… nobody else on the planet can offer what you can. Let this perspective stay with you in those times of doubt, and you’ll discover how to believe in yourself – no matter what.
