Everyone has experiences good and bad. Everyone has trials and difficulties. For some, these experiences, trials and difficulties shape them negatively. Does this sound familiar? Are you consistently down about the the negativity in your past that your experience of the present is tainted? Or do you have anxiety about the future, making it difficult to stay in the present?
We do not have to be defined by our past mistakes but the negative voice within tends to make a compelling argument. That argument our negative voice provides however, does not ever give a full picture of ourself. In fact, it often times, taints and twists the truth. It judges much more harshly than we would judge anyone else.
The negative voice doesn’t just point back to mistakes in our past, it also makes us look ahead to future events and proceeds to tell us we will find a way to fail. It tells us we’re not good enough, not smart enough, not worthy enough, etc. Simply asking the question, “I am anxious about this because I fear I am ___(worthless, a failure, weak, etc.)__,” helps to get a better sense of the negative belief we are holding onto.
Once you identify the negative (and more often than not, untrue) belief, you can then challenge it. “I am not worthless… here are some reasons why.” Many times our negative thoughts go unchallenged. They pass through our mind and are quickly accepted as truth because that is what we have told ourselves for many years (or perhaps it was told to you by someone else.)
Identify the negative thought, challenge it, and minimize the negatively within!
By: Nicholas Smith, LCPC
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