He renders you powerless, cripples and disables you from being the potent and effective person that you should be.
He has grown craftier, more skillful and more convincing through the years and he controls you like a puppet on a string. Do you know who this sinister, detestable character is?
Chances are, like most people, you don’t. So, hold on to your seat while I introduce him to you – the one who extinguishes your self-confidence, the one responsible for your deepest fears and feelings of inadequacy, the one who thinks you cannot and should never succeed.
Meet the number one deterrent to your success. He is (drum roll...), your INNER CRITIC!
Your Inner Critic is that inner voice you hear in your mind that keeps you from doing the things you want to do and having the things you want to have. It injects gloom and negativity to your thinking, filling you with fears, doubts and insecurities. Your Inner Critic is the notorious and very effective voice of the pessimist and the loser within you.
Your Inner Critic tells you that you are okay just the way you are and that anything better will take you out of that cozy, habitual comfort zone of yours. It makes you complacent and lazy; it lures you to procrastinate. It fills you with a distorted sense of humility, preaching that it is saint-like to be receding, withdrawn, small and insignificant. Your Inner Critic wants you to be passive and lackadaisical about life. In short, your Inner Critic wants you to lose.
Are you too fat? Oprah was fat; lose weight. Too short? Napoleon was short; wear high heels or elevator shoes. You think you are ugly? Go to a beautician for a makeover or an image consultant for personal re-packaging and re-invention. You have a disease? Who does not have a disease? Mary Tyler Moore is fighting diabetes while Michael J. Fox is battling Parkinson’s disease. Handicapped? You are in blessed company! Beethoven was deaf, Milton was blind, and Helen Keller was deaf, dumb and blind. Emancipate yourself from the limitations of your handicaps by cultivating your talents and gifts! You are only a woman? Barbara Streisand and Corazon Aquino are women; so were Princess Diana and the Virgin Mary, yet they made such great impacts on the world.
And listen, you are never too young or too old! For those who think they are too young, Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland were really young when they did The Wizard of Oz. For those who think they are too old, take note of the following facts. Michelangelo was 71 when he was commissioned to paint the Sistine Chapel; Ronald Reagan became U.S. president a few days before turning 70; and Colonel Sanders was old and gray, drawing on social security when he went national with his popular Kentucky Fried Chicken chain. George Bernard Shaw wrote brilliant plays at 90; Robert Frost wrote beautiful poetry till he died at 83; and Grandma Moses began painting at 80 and turned out masterpieces well into her ripe, sunset years.
Now you know who is standing in the way of your success? YOU! For how many times have you heard yourself say "but I’m not ready yet," "but I have nothing to wear," "but I’m not good enough," "but I’m scared," "but it’s too soon," "but it’s too late," "but I can’t do it," "but it is impossible!" Get your BUT out of the way and win life’s game of success!
"Now, who are these Outer Critics?" you ask.
Your Outer Critics are negative, selfish people who keep you from being happy and successful. They are those pessimistic people around you who dampen your enthusiasm and discourage your optimism, possessive people who want to control your life, and skeptical people who neither believe in your vision nor your ability to achieve it. They are those envious, jealous people who can’t bear to see you more successful than they, and those negative people who want you to fail like them.
Your failure or success largely depends on the people around you. Stay away from selfish, envious, manipulative, domineering people who hover above you like a dark cloud, shielding the sun, preventing you from being happy. Stay clear of people who invalidate you and make you feel small and worthless. Choose to be with supportive, concerned, encouraging, loving and caring people. Choose a mate and friends who fill your world with sunshine, encourage happy thoughts, uplift your spirits, and make your heart sing with joy.
So, remember. Next time you hear your Inner Critic or any of your Outer Critics say, "No, you cannot do it," smile with great confidence and say, "Of course, I can. Watch me!"
God’s Light Show |
I am a celestial phenomena fanatic (and a certified UFO freak!) that I sure wouldn’t miss a meteor shower for anything in the world. I ran to my balcony but was disheartened to see the Makati skies veiled with thick clouds. I sent JR a text inquiring if the meteor shower was still in progress and he replied "yes." I noticed the clouds slowly clearing and the stars started to twinkle crisply. Suddenly, while trying to figure out whether the constellation I was looking at was the Little or the Big Dipper, a bright spark streaked across the sky. I saw my first meteor flash! I got goose bumps while I excitedly stated my first wish for the night (you are supposed to make a wish when you see a shooting star!).
After a minute or so there was another meteor cutting through the starry night, followed by another, then another. Some were faint but others were really bright leaving a grayish trail behind them. I counted 21 flashes all careening westward. That was a lot of wishes to last me a lifetime!
The next astronomical phenomenon of this kind will happen in 2099. I guess a lot of us won’t be around by then. Lucky are those who witnessed the rare, dazzling event. Watching the sky and its infinite expanse was an overwhelming and humbling experience. And to think that here we are, poor foolish creatures, drowning ourselves in our little problematic lives when we are but specks of dust in the great, wide universe!
Where were you when God put on His spectacular heavenly light show?
Wonderful Friends |