Quiet voices get louder.
There is a quiet voice inside you.
It whispers with potential. It tells you there is purpose here. It wants you to know that you are someone special and treasured. It holds out peace in its hands, because it says that everything will be okay in the end. It speaks phrases like “light at the end of the tunnel” and “you are enough” and “you don’t have to be perfect.” It is good, and it is true.
There are loud voices, inside you and around you and pretty much everywhere.
They scream with defeat. They force you to focus on your circumstances so that you can’t see the purpose inside your situation. They want you to believe that you are nothing, a no one, unloved, unneeded. They will forever screech that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, you are not good enough, and you must be perfect.
And the most important bit: Those loud voices are lies.
Why is it so much easier to slip into believing we are worthless or not good enough, or that we need to perform our way into belonging? Why is it so hard to believe that we are worthy and good enough, and that we belong here exactly the way we are? Because, a lot of the time, lies are so much louder than the truth. The truth can take us to imaginable places, push us to fulfill incredible dreams, and lift us up to new, amazing heights. But the lies will just try to push us down and keep us down, in their pit of loneliness and fear. What I hope for you is that your quiet voices of truth will get louder and louder in your life, so that you can reach those heights you’re longing for.
In the past several months, I’ve had some astonishingly clear, even (to me) supernatural, moments where the truth fights the lies and suddenly wins. I cling to those moments like a lifesaver when I’m drowning yet again in all the wrong voices. And over time, I’ve been learning to choose the quiet voices. Day by day, I’m learning how to let the truth be louder than the lies.
“You are loved. You belong here. You are needed. You are enough. You are worthy of the light.”
And so, friend and fellow fighter, here are the four things I want to say to you today, in the hopes that they will make your quiet voices louder:
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You are growing. You will not read this post and suddenly be completely, totally transformed. I’m sorry to say those mornings may still come when you don’t want to get out of bed. I’m sorry to say that you very well might cry again (if you’re like me, probably within the next couple days). Give yourself space to grow. If you need me to do it for you, here you go: I officially give you permission to grow. You don’t have to listen to your quiet voice of truth perfectly on the first try. You are good enough exactly the way you are. You don’t have to beat yourself up when the lies get you down; just keep moving forward. You’re going to be okay.
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Follow your quiet voice. Some days, I love others out of genuinely knowing I am loved. Some days, I act out of my quiet voice without believing what it says. Maybe I’ll go for a run in the morning, even though I feel guilty for taking care of myself before taking care of everyone else around me. Deciding to follow your quiet voice, even when you can barely hear it, may make you feel fake at first. But you’re not faking it: You’re being your best self, even when you don’t believe in your best self in the moment. You are actively choosing hope. No matter how you feel, that’s a strength, not a failure.
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If you can’t hear your quiet voice just yet, listen to the quiet voices around you. Don’t listen to that friend who always jokes about how you should lose five pounds, or the endless stream of advertisements convincing you that you just need their product to be content. Listen to the ones you trust, the ones you know love you unconditionally, the ones who surround you in your highs and lows, the ones who see your value. If you can’t think of any of those people right now, let me be your quiet voice for a minute: You are loved. You belong here. You are needed. You are enough. You are worthy of the light.
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Tell the lies to shut up and go to hell where they belong; then take a second to believe your quiet voice. This is definitely the one I need to work on the most. When I try to identify the lies as lies, my mind starts whirring with what-ifs: What if that is really true about me? What if this voice isn’t a lie? What if I ignore it, but it’s actually right, and I screw up everything because I listened to the wrong voice? When I start to go down this spiral, I like to think differently about the lie vs. truth I’m considering. Instead of asking about truth, I’ll ask: Which way of thinking gives life? Which way leads me to hope, joy, selflessness, compassion, dreaming big dreams and doing big things? Which way leads me to despair, selfishness, compromising my values, taking the easy way out, letting things rule my life that were never meant to have control? It’s usually a heck of a lot easier to answer those questions. Once you do, condemn the lies and claim the truth. You can do it.
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Chase life. It’s possible: You can chase life by choosing your quiet voice. Over time, you will learn to listen, believe in, and respond to the truth. You won’t do it perfectly, and that’s okay. You will grow. I believe in you. Your quiet voice does, too.
Hiya, I'm Haley! I'm an Auburn student who's passionate about words, helping others, and families. If I were a Harry Potter character, I would hands-down be Hermione, even though I've been Sorted into Hufflepuff. An Atlanta native, I've been scripting notes with More Love Letters for almost four years now. I love pretty flowers, cooking, Pride and Prejudice, and watching movie trailers on YouTube.