The Traitor Within

Our harshest critic
Is the voice
We hear echoing
Within our heads,
Filling our minds
With negative comments
Fear and doubt,
Questioning every effort
We attempt to make,
Putting us down
Every chance it gets,
And complicating
Even the simplest tasks.
If anyone else
Were to say
The things it says,
We would shut them up
Or kill them dead.
This inner voice
Is relentless
In its chatter,
But we must learn
To tame its voice
Or ignore the racket
It creates inside our head
If we are ever
To advance our cause
Or to achieve
A lasting peace within.
Most of us,
If we notice the voice at all,
Are well aware
That it is not our friend.
Every competitor
Whose achievements
We praise
Has confronted this foe
And found a way
To silence its comments
Or override its messages.
This critic will defeat us
Before we even start,
If we let it,
Or it will cause us falter
Before we reach
Our planned objective.
Those who give up in life
Or concede defeat early
Have spent far too much time
Listening to its barbs.
It is the traitor within,
And we need to recognize it
For what it is,
And treat it accordingly.