Recognizing the parts
This #thankyouthursday, I am grateful for recognizing the parts.
By “parts,” I mean the different voices in my head that represent various aspects of myself.
On my best days, the healthy adult is in charge, acknowledging but not necessarily being ruled by the voice of the inner child. (Although sometimes allowing the inner child to rule is a great idea!)
On my harder days, there are wounded parts of me that take the steering wheel. Collectively I think of them as the “mean mind,” but there are multiple flavors of meanness, and I’m learning how to identify and address each of them.
When something good happens, one of those wounded parts just LOVES to make me feel bad. This has to do with something called an “upper limit.”
According to my own writing ten years ago, “Basically, an upper limit is a glass ceiling of my own creation, a limiting belief that prevents progress. These limits keep me comfortable, but they also hold me back.”
I suppose I could feel discouraged that, more than a decade later, I still struggle with bypassing upper limits. But instead, I choose to feel grateful that I continue to confront them. I keep doing the work to notice what’s happening, to recognize the parts.
And when I do that, the fear can have permission to dissolve, or at least recede into the background. Which leaves me with the uncomfortable but wonderful sensation of experiencing goodness, hope—even joy.
I’ll take it all.
Love > fear,
Christina