Day 5 – Befriending the Inner Voice in Loss and Healing
Inse sat on the edge of Curity’s infinity pool, watching the sun dip below the hills. Her estate was a world away from his modest home, but right now, none of it mattered. He strummed absentmindedly on his guitar, a soft melody echoing through the evening air.
Curity emerged from the house, two mugs of tea in hand. She handed him one before sitting beside him. “You haven’t played in a while,” she noted.
He sighed, setting the guitar down. “Haven’t felt like it.”
She took a sip of tea. “You miss them.”
Inse clenched his jaw. The weight of grief pressed against his chest. “Yeah.”
Curity stayed silent for a moment before saying, “And what else?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
Curity turned to him. “You’re grieving, but there’s more, isn’t there? What’s the Voice of Insecurity telling you?”
Inse exhaled. “That I’m falling apart. That I don’t care about anything anymore. That I’ve let myself go.” He looked at her. “I used to be disciplined, worked out, ate right. Now, I don’t even recognize myself. I feel old. Weak.”
Curity nodded. “Ah. The pressure to look and feel perfect even in grief. Another cruel trick from the Voice of Insecurity.”
The Unrealistic Standards of Health and Aging
Inse ran a hand through his graying hair. “I see people my age online, fit, youthful, full of life. Meanwhile, I feel like I’ve aged ten years in a few months. Maybe I’ll never get back to how I was.”
Curity gave him a knowing look. “Do you really think health is just about looking a certain way?”
He hesitated. “I don’t know. It feels that way sometimes.”
Curity sighed. “The world sells us this idea that looking good equals feeling good. That if you don’t have a six-pack at 50, you’ve failed. But that’s not health, Inse. Health is about wholeness. And wholeness isn’t about muscles or youth, it’s about connection, about honoring where you are in life.”
Inse stayed quiet, letting her words sink in.
She continued, “You’ve been through a loss. Your body, your mind, they’re grieving. And instead of giving yourself grace, you’re punishing yourself for not looking or feeling ‘perfect.’ But what if, instead of criticizing yourself, you Befriended Your Inner Voice?”
Redefining Strength in Healing
Inse frowned. “How do you befriend something that just makes you feel worse?”
Curity smiled. “By listening differently. Right now, your inner voice is saying, ‘I’ve let myself go.’ Instead of accepting that as truth, what if you responded with, ‘I’m healing. My body is carrying me through loss. I don’t need to be perfect, I need to be kind to myself.’”
He exhaled. “That sounds… impossible.”
Curity placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not. It just takes practice. Look at your guitar, you don’t play perfectly every time, but you don’t throw it away when you mess up a note, do you?”
Inse chuckled. “No.”
“Your body, your health, your emotions, they’re like music. They change. They need tuning. And most of all, they need patience.”
The Takeaway: True Health is Compassion for Yourself
As the last light faded from the sky, Inse picked up his guitar again. Maybe he wasn’t the man he was before the loss, but maybe he wasn’t supposed to be. Maybe healing wasn’t about returning to an old version of himself but learning to embrace who he was becoming.
Curity smiled as he began to play again, this time with a little more feeling.
Lesson of the Day:
Befriend Your Inner Voice. Health isn’t about perfection, it’s about honoring your journey, embracing change, and offering yourself the same kindness you’d give to someone you love.
