Don't Listen to the Demon/Transcript

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• Rebecca Parham: I think we're all familiar with that old cartoon platitude of a character coming to a point where they need to make a decision between right and wrong and accordingly an angel and demon appear on their shoulders to sway them one way or the other. And it's supposed to be clever visual representation of a character's inner struggle. And then once the character makes a decision said angel and demon disappear. And that's all well and good but here's the inaccuracy of it. That angel and demon, they never leave. They are there on your shoulder whispering things into your ear 24/7 365. Tell me if this sounds familiar.
• Rebecca's Demon: You'll never do anything special with your life. People far younger than you have accomplished so much more. You're losing the race. She is way more talented than you. You will never be as good as her. Wow. You are so ugly and fat. No one will ever want you. You're not strong enough to deal with what you're going through. You'll never feel happy or normal again.
• Rebecca Parham: Hmm. Sounds like the awful things you tell yourself, doesn't it? What that demon basically is, is the symbolic embodiment of your pessimism, your fear, your anger, your ego, your hate. And it's not just telling you to do bad selfish things like stealing or lying or cheating. It is telling you to do those things but it's not just that. It's that voice in your head telling you stuff like, well...
• Rebecca's Demon: You have nothing to offer the world. You are a waste of space. The world is falling apart at the seams. You can't have any faith in people or in good. No one actually likes you. All your friends think you're annoying. You don't deserve to feel loved. If you died tomorrow no one would care. I bet nobody would even notice you're gone. You are ALONE.
• Rebecca Parham: I just feel like too many people online and in our generation and in this community are listening to their demons and letting the words sink in and affect them and decide how they feel about themselves and how they live their lives and how they see the world and I daresay they even let it define who they are. And I want to know - why? Why are we listening to the demon? This degrading voice that you have created inside your head it is not protecting you, it's not helping you, it's not telling you some hard truth. It is only hurting you. Listening to it only brings you further harm every single time. You think there'd be some operant conditioning going on here. Listen to the pessimistic voice - get an electric shock! If that happened enough you'd stop doing it, and yet we continue to listen to the demon. So let's talk about your other option. The other shoulder - the angel. Otherwise known as your optimistic voice. The symbolic embodiment of your joy, your confidence, your hope, your love. Optimism gets a bad rap these days because everybody associates it with ignorance and I don't think that's fair. Positivity is not walking around thinking the world is fine and dandy the way it is. That it's all ice cream and puppies and Pokemon Go. If that were the case you would have no need for optimism. Optimism is knowing the hardship in front of you, knowing the truth of the circumstance and also knowing that there's a way through it. There is an answer to your problem and it might be incredibly difficult to find or take a long time but you can. This is the voice telling you that you are awesome, you are beautiful, you have so much to offer this world and yeah things are not always wonderful and you may not be the person you want to be right now, but you are strong enough to handle it. The demon is resilient - it doesn't stop, it doesn't go away, it's always there. That negative voice pushes into your mind and just brings up all your past mistakes to use against you and just touches on every single one of your insecurities. That's why so many YouTubers let one negative comment amidst thousands of positive ones affect them. Because it corroborates what that negative voice in their head is telling them. And over time it can come to a point where the demon is shouting so loudly in your ear, that you can't even hear the angel anymore. It blares in your head covering every single thought you have like black ink and it can be suffocating. How do you make it stop? How do you quiet the demon? For me, it was realizing that this voice is a lie Everything it tells you is a lie. Putting it another way - it's all in your head. You prove your demon wrong all the time without even realizing it. You overcome obstacles, you make your rent payment, you passed that really hard test. You lost a couple pounds on your diet, you got your taxes done You've finished your story, you wrote your song You shot edited and uploaded that video You call the doctor to make an appointment even though you have phone anxiety and the world did not end! And sometimes other people can prove your pessimistic voice wrong. You wanna know who proved my demon wrong? You guys! The first time I wanted to upload a live-action video to this channel, my demon told me that you would all hate me, that you would all unsubscribe, that all the comments would be about how fat and ugly I am, that no one would listen to what I had to say. And boy did you guys prove my demon wrong. I listened to my demon the majority of my life and I believed so much of what it told me no matter how many times I proved it wrong and it nearly destroyed me. But you know what? I'm done listening to the demon. I'm done with the stupid voice in my head telling me that I'm not talented enough, that I'm not capable enough, that I'm not beautiful, that people secretly hate me, that I will never get anywhere in life, that I don't deserve to be loved. I'm done listening to the demon! I wanna listen to the angel. I wanna listen to the voice that tells me stuff like...
• Rebecca's Angel: Yeah you know what? You're not where you want to be creatively right now but with some hard work and practice you absolutely can get there! Hey let's look at this girl's work! It is so inspiring! Oh and leave a nice comment on her blog. She'll love that, it will make her feel good! Oh my goodness girl you are so beautiful! Look at the curve of those hips, and those cute chubby legs. You should wear your favorite dress today. You need to feel like a queen! Oh and you should go over there and tell that girl how adorable those shorts are on her! Okay I'll level with you, this looks pretty bad. But you are absolutely smart enough to figure this out. You have done so many amazing things before! You got this! Hey. I know it hurts. You're very sad you lost your dad. But you are strong, and you will make it through this. It won't hurt like this forever, I promise.
• Rebecca Parham: That is the voice that I am choosing to listen to. I may hear what the demon is saying, but I have a choice whether I listen to it or not. And so do you. Don't listen to the demon. Okay Explainers and Entertainers if you want to discuss more about this please do so in the comments section below. Decide if you're going to listen to your angel or your demon and write something accordingly. This has been Rebecca Parham. Thank you so much for tuning in, but now I gotta tune out. Love you! He talks in your ear when you're lonely Laughs at you when you're spent your fears make a feast when he's hungry, your brain charges no rent he'll live as long as an old oak tree, and laugh at fools like you and me I often sigh and close my eyes don't listen to the demon.