Suffocating The Whisperer.

The whisperer is always there, perched on your shoulder and dormant usually. The whisperer is very opportune, and would only like to impart statements in your ear when you are met with a challenge to overcome. It is the whisper of uncertainty and fear. It was there when I ran my first 5K, again it was there for my first 10k, and again for the half marathon. With every challenge that is presented to you, the whisperer will tempt you with its intoxicating appeal of comfort and security. 

"Don't do that, it may hurt you."

"If you do that, you will be embarrassed in front of everyone."

"Your family will not approve of this one."

There is great variation to to the phrases the whisperer utters in your ear, but none of them are enabling. The truth is, we are capable of so much, but very often we hinder ourselves to the point that we are convinced we are not capable of very much. To feel powerless is to feel despair.

The task lies in suffocating the whisperer. That is, terminate the internal monologue which suggests you cannot overcome the challenge before you. Instead, you may find great reward in muting the whisper, going forth, and completing the task anyway. Often, it turns out that the whisperer was turning the challenge into a bigger task than it really was. How often have you completed a dreaded task only to find it wasn't nearly as bad as you had perceived it to be?

Contrarily, let's say you ignore the whisper, go forth, but fail. That is the end of life as we know it! Except, of course, that it isn't. What comes with failure is a greater familiarity with oneself. Failure is a vital component of our lives, and to experience failure rarely is to  withhold a learning experience from yourself. Truly, failure is one of life's best teachers, and there is a certain wisdom in not being afraid to fail.

You may even find that your reckless abandon regarding failure brings about a feeling of authentic freedom. As human beings we're paradoxical in some ways: we want that, but we only have this; we resent some people because of their similarities to us; our brain always instructs us to cling to security and that which is known, while the pleasure centers in our brains are running at full capacity when we endeavor into the unknown on a great adventure. Adventure is written in our evolutionary DNA. We cannot taste this adventure if we empower the negative whisperer of security.

So first pay mind to your thoughts, and veer away from the discouraging whispers of security. If you can fix your thoughts, this will bring about more pleasing actions. Putting this to action over a long enough period of time may yield a certain rebirth of the self. Our identities are nothing more than our repeated day-in, day-out actions. We are nothing if not the habits that we establish. 

So make them good habits, with positive and enabling whispers to fuel your new adventures. There is a new adventure to be had for every day that we awake alive and well.