Find Your Inner Voice

Sometimes I struggle to find my inner voice. It’s something we all go through.

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photo credits: Keith Rowley

Yesterday, my outer voice took a temporary leave of absence.

We had been pushing ourselves a lot — not sleeping enough and traveling around the country for family get togethers, all while continuing with a regular workload. All of a sudden, I had no voice, which is a bit inconvenient when a lot of what I do depends on talking!

I had to reschedule a class; I had to cancel appointments. What a bummer.

The funny thing was that I was feeling fantastic! It felt so strange to cancel things when I felt terrific. Yet everytime I spoke to (read: emailed) my ladies, they all said a variation of the same thing: “You poor thing! Feel better!”

And all I wanted to do was shout out to them and say, “I’m fine, I’m okay! I just lost my voice! I’m feeling great!” (Really I just thanked them, because it WAS very thoughtful of them.)

Well, what do you know. Over the course of the day, I found myself getting more and more tired the more I exerted myself. The more I did the simple act of speaking, the more worn out I felt.

It’s really amazing. Our bodies have a way of telling us that we’re overdoing it. That we need to take better care of ourselves.

Our job is to listen.

Maybe there’s something that you’re doing that you once thought was good for you and deep down you know you could do better.

Maybe you’re walking around with stomach aches, head aches, you’re tired, and you convince yourself that you’re okay, that life’s busy and there’s nothing you can do to change things. That you could just keep pushing through.

Maybe your body is telling you that you’re not letting it have its voice. Maybe your body is trying to tell you that you shouldn’t just push through. That you should take the time to do something for yourself to improve the way you feel.

I’m going to try not to speak much until tomorrow morning and keep drinking hot tea with lemon.

What is your body trying to tell you? What steps can you take to do something about it?

6 Comments

Join the discussion and tell us your opinion.

Rivki Silverreply
December 30, 2014 at 9:35 pm

My body is telling me that I’m tired, very tired. What am I going to do about it? I’m going to be honest with myself about what’s necessity and what can be outsourced or not done at all. And try to actually nap when the baby naps if I can (much easier said than done, but I think I’ll have to schedule it in!).

Renareply
December 30, 2014 at 9:43 pm
– In reply to: Rivki Silver

Rivki,
It’s amazing how sleep is often times the first thing we sacrifice. Good for you for taking the initiative to do what you can to stop doing what you can’t. 🙂

Miriamreply
January 7, 2015 at 5:45 am

This blog is really great! You really got a point on this one but still going to have to see how to really hear my inner voice because I always love getting involved in new projects. Love your website. So encouraging and fun to read.
Miriam D.

Renareply
January 7, 2015 at 6:56 pm
– In reply to: Miriam

Miriam,
Thanks for the feedback! I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
I’m sure that the more you try to tune in the more you’ll hear your inner voice. 🙂

Tzippyreply
January 27, 2015 at 11:26 am

I have a bad knee which usually is under control but flares up every so often. It started getting bad a few weeks ago, and I just kept plowing on, just changed things by starting taking anti-inflamatories and dropping my exercise classes. Things only got worse, my muscles in both legs were so tight, I finally realized I need to make time for Pilates! And that is what I will do bli nder. there isn’t Pilates so often in my neighborhood, so I will use the Shape Fitness DVD to supplement – bli neder I need to do it every day to help myself feel better. Also sleep, but that may be too hard to fix as a work-at-home mother of seven, including a baby…

Renareply
February 1, 2015 at 10:17 am
– In reply to: Tzippy

Tzippy,
Take it one step at a time. 🙂 I hope your knee feels better soon!

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