There can be many things in life that can affect us in different ways. Many different voices coming from all directions that can push us in many different directions – directions in which we may not even want to go. There can be positive voices but most of the time the voices will be negative voices. Sometimes there are those who think they are giving positive opinions or advice but in actual fact they are being negative. The question you need to ask yourself is whether or not you want all these voices to control you and the decisions you make in your life.
There will always be people who want to advise you and help you make decisions in this life, some may believe they are trying to help, and sometimes those voices can be helpful but at the end of the day, you need to listen to your own heart and sometimes you just have to ignore others and do what you feel is right. Even if you make mistakes, at least you’ll not regret the choice of choosing your own path and you will learn a lot of great lessons along the way.
When I was younger I would allow people’s opinions to shape my life. I used to allow all those different voices to influence me. I got lost in all that noise and the worst part was that I never really got to a point in my life where I actually knew who I was. I became a by-product of other people’s opinions and that left me as an empty shell of a man. I had no real interests of my own, I had no real feeling of purpose or achievement in my life and I had no real sense of worth. The more I allowed myself to be influenced by others the more I became less myself.
“I became a by-product of other people’s opinions and that left me as an empty shell of a man.”
The biggest problem with living a life like this is that it eventually becomes a habit. Like anything, the more you do something the better you get at it, and I became great at allowing all the noisy voices to take me in a direction I never would have chosen to go and it lead me to a depressing place – a place where other people’s opinions mattered more than my own.
I would always do things in my life with others in mind, wondering what this person or that person would think of me. To be honest, I still struggle with this today – Not as much as I used to – but the effects of allowing this to occur throughout my younger life has left an effect on me that is deep-seated and hard to overcome – Hard but not impossible. As I’ve grown I’ve had to learn to trust myself more – to trust my own judgment and to stop worrying about what others may think. I have had to grow my faith in myself and learn to stop relying on others to make my decisions for me. I love this quote below…
“What other people think of me is none of my business.” ~Wayne Dyer
There is one voice however, that drowns out all these other voices these days and it’s been a long ride to get to know this voice but I believe that this one voice is the only one I should have ever been listening to throughout my life – Unfortunately I did not know this voice until only a few years ago. This voice gives words of encouragement. This voice has only positive words to speak over my life. This voice brings hope and life where there is despair and depression. This voice is the voice of the shepherd. The voice that took me from the miserable life I had been living and led me to a new life with a new outlook. This voice changed the way I saw myself and gave me courage to believe in myself. This voice gave me purpose and this voice has not yet lead me astray or let me down. The voice of the shepherd. It’s a voice I now know and a voice I now trust. It’s the only voice I allow to speak when I lose my own voice.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” – Jesus
If you are having a hard time with the many voices in your world and have lost your way because of negative voices leading you in directions you never wished to go, I encourage you to get hold of us by clicking on the pop-up window or on the link below. The voice of the shepherd is one that you can trust. Your life will never be the same again.