My inner critic is strong, even though I try very hard to silence her, but today, I told her to leave.
She has shown up here and there, every day, for as long as I can remember and probably for even longer than that.
When I get ready in the mornings and notice a new wrinkle or gray hair, she points it out to me. Or a few minutes later, when I stand in my closet staring at a sea of clothes that still don’t fit, she makes sure I hear her.
She’s there again on the mornings when I drop my son off to school five minutes late, or when I can’t remember a word I’m searching for during a class discussion with my high school students.
She makes her presence known later, when I remember that I forgot to flip the laundry or figure out something for dinner. Or when I speak too loudly or firmly to my children, she laughs at my mistakes and makes them seem bigger than they really are.
When all is quiet in the house, finally, and I sit to write, her voice is the very strongest: “you will never do this” she chides. I forge on and write anyway, doing my very best to silence her.
My husband took this photo of me today and was proud of it. He said, “Kara, you look so pretty and strong.” My inner critic started to point out the things she saw wrong with the woman in the picture.
But I stopped her. I STOPPED her. She’s not welcome here anymore. “Leave” I said to her and I felt her sulking away to hide in a corner. I’m sure she will return a few more times until she fully hears my message, but I will continue to tell her to go until I don’t hear her ever again.
Will you do the same to your inner critic? Just tell her to leave, my friends. Banish her from taking your glory.