How can you know

for sure

that the voice in your head

is not personal?

The one that sounds like

You shouldn’t have done this

You’re not getting any younger

You should know better

You have to change this

You don’t deserve this

You can’t do it

You should try harder

You’ll be a failure

You made the wrong decision

You’d better lower the bar

You are a worthless piece of shit

You are shy/fat/incapable/weak/stupid/boring/ugly/unlovable

You should just give up, or

Why did you give up?!

Well, you can know

for sure

because the voice I hear

tells me the exact same things.

So how personal can it be?

—

(Photo by @gabriellefaithhenderson, for Unsplash)