We are all recovering from something, but as much as anything—I believe—most of us are recovering from living with the voice or voices in our head that invite feelings of low self-esteem, self-doubt, and even self-hatred. I'm talking about the voices that whisper to us throughout our lives that we aren't enough—or aren't worthy of being here.
For many, those voices are the voices that we heard in our childhood, from our parents or other important people in our lives. Not all of them intended to do harm with the things they said, but that doesn't mean harm wasn't done.
Other voices are related to people who played to our insecurities, or worse, abused us. At some points in my life, those damaging voices hollered.
Today they are much quieter, but they are still there, trying to sabotage me once in a while. The difference is that I've learned how to listen for them, acknowledge them, and tell them to shut the hell up.
If we listen really carefully, we hear the things that build us up, not tear us down.