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JOHN STANKO - The little old man

If you are going to be creative and productive, you must not only learn how to manage the time that you have.  You must also learn to deal with the invisible little old man that whispers into your ears.  You may respond that you don’t have a little old man whispering to you, but I contend that you do.

This little old man has talked to you most of your adult life.  What is that role?  It’s the role of the critic, the censor, and the discourager.

When you write something, this little old man starts in:  “You can’t write.  This is no good.  I wouldn’t show this to anyone.  You’ll never get this published!”  If you try to take steps to improve yourself, the little man then says, “Who do you think you are?  You’re too old to try to do something like this?”  If you have an idea for a business or ministry, he chimes in and says, “That will never work.  Why don’t you just stay where you are, even though you’re unhappy?”  Then when you become a Christian, that little old man takes on a whole new tone. “How do you know the Lord wants you to do that?  Who do you think you are, Moses or Peter?  There is nothing special about what you are thinking.  Plus you don’t have the time, money or spirituality to do it well.  Just sit there and shut up.  You know the mistakes you’ve made trying to do things in the past!  All right, you did that once but you won’t be able to do it again!”

There is no way I can describe all that this little man says or does in your life, but I think you get the idea.  If you are going to clarify your purpose and be productive, you are going to have to deal with this little old man.  I have found that you cannot reason with him, for he is too persuasive and persistent for that.  The critic and censor will urge you to dismiss an idea within five minutes of when you first receive it.  The critic will cause you not to talk about yourself and to hide your art and ideas.  He will prey on your fears and cause you to compare yourself to those who are supremely successful, causing you to cower in despair as you behold your comparative lack of talent.  So how do you deal with this little old man?

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matthew 11:12-13).  There is no nice way to deal with this little old man.  You cannot have pity on him or listen to anything he says.  What do I recommend?   I recommend that you poke this little old man in the eye whenever he talks to you!  That’s right, you must deal ruthlessly with him on every occasion that he decides to offer his two cents.  You must say to him, “Thank you but you don’t know what you are talking about.”  And if he doesn’t shut up, then you must occupy him by poking him in the eye.  Just picture him holding his eye and bending over in pain.  (Don’t worry.  He’ll recover to speak again.)  Then proceed to carry out the idea that you have while he is preoccupied, free from his annoying voice and tired accusations.

When you were young, that little old man didn’t exist.  You were free then to create, to be yourself, to have fun and experiment with life.  You did things just for the sake of doing them, and you learned and had fun.  But as you got older, the old man took up residence to keep you fearful, bound-up and failure-free.  But that little old man has taken something from you and you must take it back, with violence if necessary.  He took your youthful zeal for life, and with it he took your ability to create with freedom.  As I enter my 55th year today, I am determined to deal with this little man that talkes to me, too.  Won’t you join me as together we poke our inner critic in the eye, thus freeing us to be who God created us to be and do what He wants us to do?  I hope you will.  Have a great week!