Dear Daniel:

Congratulations for exercising.

What you wrote in the first paragraph makes sense. That never-to-materialize console was a negative, demotivating life lesson I wish you didn’t have.

That Inner Scolder, is only scolds, it shames you. The part of you that procrastinates and gets angry is not the inner scolder, it is the child part of you. I think it is important to understand this:

The inner scolder, otherwise known as the inner critic, is a mental representative of our parents who criticized and shamed us. Before that inner critic came into being in our brain, there was the child, not yet criticized, not yet shamed, motivated to learn, excited about life.

This child part of you is being abused by the inner critic, and it is the part that tries to escape into distractions and feel-better solutions for the moment; it is the part that runs away and hides.

There are ways to confront that abusive inner critic, ways to stand up for the child part of you, protect him from the abuse, so that the child part will feel safe-

safe enough to come out of hiding, safe enough to explore, to withstand difficulties… and shake off that depression.

We can talk further about this, as it is not a simple thing to do, not something one post can convey.

anita