The Battle Within

Yesterday, I came across a video clip of Kevin Costner speaking at Whitney Houston’s funeral. I am not sure how it popped up, but I paused for a moment to listen.

Their friendship was unique, for sure. However, he shared a few intimate moments of the legendary singer’s internal battle with feeling “good enough.”

Can you imagine? Being, arguably, the greatest voice of all time and still at war with yourself believing you are not good enough.

It really makes me stop and take inventory of the personal battles I face and the battles of many in my sphere face. They are completely unnecessary and rob us of levels of greatness we can only dream about.

Why do we do that?

Why would we believe something about ourselves when everything around us is yelling the complete opposite?

I believe it is programming.

As children, we do not know we are supposed to be afraid, so we are not.

As youngsters, play and creativity are at the fore until the current educational models tell us how we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to act. As thankful as I am for teachers, I do not like the educational system. (But I’ll take up this convo another day.)

So, how do we re-birth that joy and creativity?

How do we unlock the view of us that others may see?

How do we suspend disbelief and ignite belief?

For me, it begins with a simple journey to the place of foundational truths that I know.

Certainties. There are not many, but they are powerful. It is in those places that I can remind myself, “If THIS is completely true, then it is possible that this other thing is true—if I will only give it a chance. If I only try…”

The second element is my internal speak. What do I say about myself and how do I speak over myself?

If I can align those two things, anything is possible.

If one is aligned and the other not, then I feel like I am walking in mud.

If both are out of whack, I am at war with myself and will never do anything. Worse, I will beat myself up and make a tough day worse.

So where to start?

1 – Foundational beliefs, and

2 – Internal messages. From there, I can reach for levels I never knew or believed I could find.

As a coach, these two elements are the first things I am wanting to discover in a client. Once I know where they are in these two areas, I can see what levels are possible.

What are your foundations? Do you know them clearly?