It seems that all of us face this voice of judgement inside, right? That little voice that creeps up and sabotages our strivings and strugglings as well as our best efforts.
Strange as it seems, this voice of judgement was part of our creative adjustment as we call it, when we were growing up. Something happened there and we thought that the best solution to our predicament of having to accept a world that was happening to us, was to use this little voice of judgement to bring us down, to deflate us if you will so that we don’t get overexcited, disappointed or overwhelmed. And it has been helpful in allowing us to grow up and know what to expect and when we should think twice before actually doing or saying something.
The odd thing though is that we still need that voice. It is as if something in us has not completely made the transition to adulthood and is stuck at that point in time where it needs the crutch of the reminder to control the excitement, the disappointment, the fear or whatever emotion we imagine might be there on the other side.
And I find that in addition to mindfulness and focusing on my breath, a self-reflective practice that can counter-balance this voice of judgement in me is to think the simple question:
What is the most kind, loving and caring thing you can say to yourself right now?
See what your answer to that is… (right now)
