Don't Give Into Head Trash

We all have struggles, myself included. As a man, my head trash is fairly typical. Am I enough? Do I have what it takes to be the husband, father or businessperson I want to be? Am I smart or unique enough to make a difference? My belief is most of us, male and female, deal with some iteration of these kinds of thoughts that run in our head.?We’re faced with a choice to let the head trash go unchecked or address it with new talk tracks?to help overcome self-doubt, toxic thinking and crippling thoughts that sabotage our goals and aspirations.?The key is to recognize the head trash, identify the source and replace it with new talk tracks that serve who we want to become.

Over time, I’ve been able to shut most of my head trash down and replace it with new and better talk tracks that propel me forward. In my experience,?it doesn’t mean the sabotaging talk tracks go away completely, but it does mean I’m able to take the next best step and trust that I’m going to grow in the process. As a follower of Christ,?if I’m going to live out the faith I profess, I have to surrender my brokenness to God?and trust He will be meet me there. I’ve learned it’s actually a relief to trust God to deal with my garbage, deficiencies and fears. He is able to make me whole and, interestingly, I’m generally overcome with peace when I confess I’m incapable of dealing with all of life in my own strength. The previous sentence might strike you as strange. After all, our culture indoctrinates us with empowerment through rugged individualism and the idea of bootstrapping. The terms “self-made” and “personal responsibility” come to mind, both of which I have a love-hate relationship with.?Why? Because, while our decisions and actions absolutely play a role in our destiny, none of us are gifted or comprehensive enough to be self-contained and have all of the answers 100% of the time. We all have strengths and weaknesses and, instead, can elevate and help one another along by leveraging community.

In the end, we can’t let self-sabotaging head trash derail the impact we were designed to make but, at the same time, shouldn’t be duped into thinking we need to do it all on our own.?We need to be in communities that lift us up, challenge us and help us navigate life.?We’re always stronger together than individually because we can bend the learning curve, share our challenges and, together, overcome our blind spots.