It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not. Attributed to Hanoch McCarty
I think a very clear picture of today's quote is seen in the TV show "Intervention". That show makes me sad. It gives a very clear picture of a person who is so beaten down by life circumstances and choices that they turn to drugs, alcohol, prostitution, etc to "cure" what ails them. Except it ends up being more "ail" than "cure". And as the producers interview these sad people it almost always comes out that they are trying to numb the disappointment of who they aren't but want to be. Somehow, along the way, they got sidetracked from their true self and became this person even they cannot recognize. They try to convince themselves and others that they like this person they are. But they lie. They lie to themselves. Their disappointment in who they want to be but think they can never be hangs heavy on them like a shroud. And most of the time they are truly convinced, by circumstances and other voices weighing in, that they can't be who they want. Lies! We all have choice. We can choose to be who we want. A victim of sexual abuse has a choice to not be a victim any longer, to not allow themselves to be defined by that event. A victim of physical abuse has a choice to not engage in that behavior toward their own children or others, to not allow that abuse to define them. A person who has been abandoned by a parent has a choice to not allow that to speak over their life and dictate value of their life. We have a choice. The victims I mentioned most often turn to "cures" because they have believed the lie that they will never be anything but a victim, that they are the event that has wounded them so deeply. They don't think they are a person with worth and value. See? It's who they think they are not that holds them back.
Have you seen ways in your own life where this has had a ring of truth? What can you do about it? Don't be held back any longer by the invisible chains of deception, you are worth more than you know.
I think a very clear picture of today's quote is seen in the TV show "Intervention". That show makes me sad. It gives a very clear picture of a person who is so beaten down by life circumstances and choices that they turn to drugs, alcohol, prostitution, etc to "cure" what ails them. Except it ends up being more "ail" than "cure". And as the producers interview these sad people it almost always comes out that they are trying to numb the disappointment of who they aren't but want to be. Somehow, along the way, they got sidetracked from their true self and became this person even they cannot recognize. They try to convince themselves and others that they like this person they are. But they lie. They lie to themselves. Their disappointment in who they want to be but think they can never be hangs heavy on them like a shroud. And most of the time they are truly convinced, by circumstances and other voices weighing in, that they can't be who they want. Lies! We all have choice. We can choose to be who we want. A victim of sexual abuse has a choice to not be a victim any longer, to not allow themselves to be defined by that event. A victim of physical abuse has a choice to not engage in that behavior toward their own children or others, to not allow that abuse to define them. A person who has been abandoned by a parent has a choice to not allow that to speak over their life and dictate value of their life. We have a choice. The victims I mentioned most often turn to "cures" because they have believed the lie that they will never be anything but a victim, that they are the event that has wounded them so deeply. They don't think they are a person with worth and value. See? It's who they think they are not that holds them back.
Have you seen ways in your own life where this has had a ring of truth? What can you do about it? Don't be held back any longer by the invisible chains of deception, you are worth more than you know.
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