The slugs have decimated my kale and I’m pissed about it.
So much effort, love and attention in setting up this little growing paradise and half the plants are gone. 

This is a metaphor for life, my lovely neighbour.
I’m not reaching, stay with me here. 

Slugs are the small, inner narratives that slowly creep in when it’s dark and eat away at the parts of us that are trying to find the light and grow. They don’t start with the stems. They don’t go after that which is hardy and stable, they go after the leaves.
The delicate, new growth that is reaching outward. 

Call it the inner critic, resistance, habits of lower thought, whatever works for you.
What are yours? 

You suck? You never stick to things? People don’t like you? You don’t have what it takes? You’re a failure? Check it out…just reading those lines, what’s happening in your body? 

While writing, my belly tensed and I was holding my breath. I re-read them and recoiled, a bit annoyed. And those weren’t even statements I was really saying to myself! 

The human propensity to turn things into problems and talk shit to ourselves is kind of amazing. And heartbreaking.
These inner narratives know how to target the old wounds, recurring insecurities and fears, amplifying the worst of who we believe ourselves to be. Especially when we’re trying new things or at growth edges. 

Now, you won’t catch me on the ‘just-think-positive-and-all-your-problems-will-go-away’ train. Choo-choo-BYE. But there are some very effective ways to train (see what I did there?) our attention toward that which we want to grow, without needlessly gnawing away at it.

I may be a beginner at garden pest control, but I’ve got some goods to give about honouring yourself all the way to realized dreams.

Join me in a comments below and share how you’re honouring yourself and changing your inner narrative!

Chela Davison Cheladavison.com growth edges honouring yourself Inner Critic inner narrative What if I suck