Voices Carry

I wanted to talk about The Golden Bachelor today and the range of emotions I experienced watching all of them brave women put their hearts on the line on national T.V. However, I changed my mind with one scene at work this morning.

I watched a team of great folks put a desk together for a new employee. Yeah, there was a reason why I watched and didn't participate. I love to assemble things at home, but in public, if there are assertive or aggressive folks jumping in, I will hang back.

Observing, I got to have the bird's eye view too. The introverted man stood back, and these folks swarmed his "area" and took over the arranging of his furniture. Before they came in, I had already asked him what HE wanted. At that time, he was lucid and deliberate.

Then, in come the voices of others. They started telling him what to want and what to think. As they took over and assembled his desk, I cut through the noise with an older voice of wisdom. "- - - - - (enter name) what do you want?" All stops. The team immediately paused and looked at him. Once he stated what he wanted then they got busy making his wishes come true.

It's the perfect illustration of life. Some of us hear voices from our family and friend circle. Confident, intelligent, wise voices. This is problematic because relying too heavily on the voice of others can cause us not to develop and trust our own voice. That's what I am walking away with today. Time to trust my own voice. It's like the title of an 80's song "Voices Carry". The things that people say stick in our brains. Their words infiltrate our psyche. Guess what? Sometimes those voices are WRONG! Then what? You lose.

Careful who you listen to. And remember they have no skin in the game so they will throw their opinions out and break your heart over and over again if you let them. Don't let them. Put your hand on your heart and feel your own beat. What do you want? What is your gut telling you? Remember, you're the protagonist in your story. How do you want your story to end? Write it and live it out.