Alarm Bells
Illustration by Seb Black Art created just for us!
Hi I’m Krista, the human behind Live Heart Forward.
I believe each and every one of us is born with innate gifts and passions that make us who we are. Perhaps you feel this way too.
Over our lifetime many of us become disconnected from our true selves in a well-intended or subconscious effort to fit in.
Some us have an endless desire to please others and go along to get along, which only causes further internal disconnection.
We measure ourselves and our worth against external markers of success. Career, relationships, friends, our bodies, our brains…
Many of us can get by this way for a while but sooner or later, we may find ourselves feeling lost, stuck, and unhappy.
We may find ourselves feeling empty and disconnected despite our best efforts to follow the social script. This is often compounded by feelings of guilt and shame for not being happy with what we have achieved.
Or maybe we feel like no matter how hard we work we’re just going through the motions day to say. We may feel broken or faulty. We may ask ourselves “WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?”
I am here to tell you that there is NOTHING wrong with you. That nagging feeling of dis-ease (get it?) is actually your internal alarm system letting you know that there’s a misalignment between your internal self and the external environment in which you move through day to day.
Maybe, like me in the past, you’ve tried to turn down the alarm bells by “numbing out” - choosing to distract yourself with vices of various forms. It probably works for a bit, at least to take your mind off that gnawing feeling. But then it comes roaring back in a matter of hours, days, weeks, month and the cycle repeats.
In my work as a Registered Social Worker, I have seen time and time again that many of us have been conditioned to believe we are faulty, that who we are is the problem. For women with ADHD this feeling is even more common, and we are only starting to understand the impact on wider society.
Let me be the first to tell you that you dear one, are not the problem. I know firsthand the hurt that a lifetime of trying to achieve some mythical (and often unrealistic!) standard can wreak on us. When we fall short of meeting whatever expectation we hold ourselves against, we often direct that anguish inward.
So back to those alarm bells. Do you hear them? Those alarm bells are actually your inner wisdom, calling you back to perfectly imperfect self.
Rather than trying to drown out the noise, what if you chose to courageously tune in?
Unlearning our social programming and tuning into ourselves may feel scary at first, especially as women who have been conditioned to please others our whole lives. Trust that engaging in this life-changing act of radical self-love will ultimately change your life for the better as you live in greater alignment.
I’m here to walk next to you on your journey toward greater ease in your life. Want to learn more about me first? Feel free to drop me a line and say hello.
With love,
Krista
Journal Prompts for Self-Exploration
What is your internal alarm system trying to tell you? How long have you been tuning out?
What is and isn’t working for you in your current situation? Be honest with yourself, this is a safe space to explore.
Visualize yourself in this preferred future where your external and internal worlds are more aligned. What will your day-to-day life look like? What will it feel like in your body? In your heart? What area will feel easier?
