FINDING YOUR VOICE

Sometimes I worry about making others happy. Sometimes I worry about pleasing too much. I think that you only arrive at the perfect balance when you have found your voice. I have often spoken about finding your voice, but I don't think I really knew what I was talking about until this year.

I normally make really difficult decisions, but then live anxiety-ridden about the decision for months, possibly years, even when I know that there is no other decision I could arrive at given the information I had. My anxiety was really born out of not having much faith in myself. Someone once asked Dolly Parton if she had any regrets, she said she didn't have any because she always made the best decision she could at the time she made the decision. When she answered the question she was so sure about herself, not in an arrogant way, but in a confident way that the interviewer was taken aback. Now I know what she means, and understand how she felt. I have now arrived at that stage where I trust myself to make the right decision. With that new found faith in me comes a level of confidence and contentment.

In the past, I knew intellectually that I made the best decision, but emotionally, I doubted myself and that was really the source of the consternation. Now I don't doubt myself. I have made difficult decisions and I am not stressed about them. So now I think that finding your voice simply means that you have found faith in yourself.

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