Dealing with “The Heckler”

Seth Godin’s blog today is very inspiring to me. He talks about “the heckler”, that voice inside telling you “You’re not good enough,” or, “you don’t deserve this,” etc.

I’ve wrestled with this phenomenon for years. What’s worse is, as a Christian, sometimes I can confuse the “heckler” for God’s “still small voice”. I get depressed with thoughts like, “Your never going to be good enough.” and “Your too old, fat, hairy, _____________”. Then there are the more spiritually bent thoughts like, “Your so proud…you are not being humble.” or “It’s all about you, you selfish person,” which attack my sense of faithfulness and desire to honor God. It’s really a daily struggle.

I always thought about others, others who are where I want to be, and wonder if they ever thought those thoughts. I mean, how could they? They are successful, they didn’t let doubt cloud their judgment, but pressed through in faith and confidence, relentlessly, right? Well…perhaps not.

Perhaps they were just more successful at ignoring the “heckler” than I’ve been?