Play, Rewind, Erase, Record. Repeat as Needed

"Shame is a lie someone told you about yourself." Anaïs Nin

On my smart phone, I have a voice recorder. It's the modern version of the old tape recorder I used to love to play with when I was a child. It was fun to record others speaking, especially when they were unaware the tape recorder was on. Not that I would do that today. Please don't even worry about that.

Inside my head, there is a tape recorder. My parents and other powerful people in my life (like teachers) made recordings long before I had the cognitive ability to discern a lie from a truth. So for a while I had to take what was on the tape at face value. I hit the play button, and the tape went on and on in an endless loop of everything that was wrong about me. There was some truth on the tape, but mostly lies. Even the most well-intentioned adult can tell a lie.

Have you played with the tape recorder that's inside your head lately? Push play and your tape will start. As soon as you hear a lie, hit rewind, then erase, then record. Now speak a truth about yourself, recording right over that old lie. At first you might not immediately realize a lie when you hear it. But if what you hear makes you feel bad or sad or ashamed, chances are good it's a lie. You could also check it out with a truthful person whom you love and trust. Play, rewind, erase, record. It's easy and fun and in no time at all you'll be really good at it.

Susan