#WordsOfWednesday

I was standing in front of the ATM, I inserted the checks and it spat two back out.
I grumbled a bit and then I reentered them – this time around, they worked.
With a sly smile on my face, I emailed the receipt to myself and I headed out of the business/bank center.
It was one of those that doesn’t have any people – just the machines and virtual portals. I headed back to my car and before I started the car, I began to hear voices.

I know what you are thinking. What is wrong with this guy?
But it was the echoes of the songs I was playing before I went into the building. It was me singing “Ololade mi Asake” over and over in my head.
I turned on the car and the song had finished, it was now a new song but I could still hear those voices too.
We all hear those voices.

I remember one day when I was much younger, I ran upstairs to my mom and I was like “you called me?”
She frowned and said “no”
Then she added “don’t answer if you don’t see who is calling”
All my Africans or Black people in general reading this all rolled their eyes because here is a Nigerian mother telling you to be sure you see her before answering. WHERE THEY DO THAT AT????
Nope!
Mothers be wanting you to even answer while they thinking of calling you!

The whole reason I was depositing those checks is that I stopped listening to voices. The checks were some gifts given to me by members of a church I went to sing at recently.
Standing there – instead of appreciating some of the gifts that come from my gift, all I could think of was the voices that said I wasn’t good enough.
I have one friend in particular that would tell me not to sing whenever I would sing around them. So are the hundreds of people around the country that I sing, can’t they hear?
Do they not know good music?
That’s incredibly hard to believe.
The last time I sang, 4 separate people came up to me to tell me how much they loved my singing and how I carried myself.
Yet, before each time, I would hear my friend’s voice saying “no”

Truth is, we are all victims of it.
We drown out the voices of praise and amplify that of our doubters.
It is important to listen to the voices, especially the praise – you need the fuel. I am not saying doubters are always wrong, otherwise, too many people would be Soundcloud rappers. Sometimes those voices are the voice of reason and they force us to strive for better – for greatness.
So they are important in the room.
But they should not be so loud that it makes you want to stay out of the room.

There are also times that you are those voices you hear. You push yourself too hard.
You negative talk yourself. You put yourself down.
Stop it!
You are deserving of greatness, belief and the confidence of someone bound to do great things.
I am not a fan of those fake self-talk pages on IG (especially since IG is a hub for tons of negativity) but find your own source.
Pour the positive into your soul. Every chance you get.
Fill your room with enough loud voices – so the next time you are in front of a room ready to present or a church ready to sing or alone at the ATM, the only voices you hear would be of those cheering you on.

Till next time,

Stay Up!

Please COMMENT your thoughts below. Thanks for reading!