Noise

This is for anyone who’s ever made a decision, and then heard nothing

but noise.

I am here to tell you that if you ever stand firm in your convictions, if you

ever make a decision based on your morals, standards and faith, then noise

is exactly what you’ll hear.

The bad part is that you’ll hear the most noise from the people closest to

you. They will have advice about every aspect of your decision. They’ll tell

you what you should do/should have done/couldn’t do/can’t do/shouldn’t

think about....

They’ll ask you: how could you?/why did you?/how dare you?/why didn’t

you?/why wouldn’t you?/shouldn’t you have...?

And then they’ll tell you: well I can’t/I don’t see how/that doesn’t make

sense/I don’t understand/I’m not going to support that....

Noise. All of it.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The people close to you whispering in your ear

may have nothing but good intentions for you. And they may not. Those

closest to you know your strengths and your weaknesses. They know what

to whisper in your ear, depending on what they want from you.

So my advice is: make your decisions based on your faith and self-awareness,

then step back. Stop. Listen. Absorb what makes sense to you. And then

completely and wholeheartedly discard the rest for what it is: noise. Let it

go, and stand firm in your convictions. Th is is important because if you’re

not careful, listening to the noise can make you forget who you really are.

At best, the people feeding you noise meant no harm. At worst, the point

of all that noise was for you to forget who you are, or more precisely, for

you to become what they perceive you to be.

Remember: people either see you or they don’t. If they can see you, I

mean really see you, then honor them and heed what they say, even if you

ultimately don’t agree with or implement their suggestions.

But if they stand close to you, yet still can’t see who you are, then how is it

possible for them to ever give you anything other than noise camouflaged

as “good advice?”

Tune in to who you are, buttress yourself with faith, and tune out the noise.

Your purpose awaits you.