To the Protege: La La La La La La La
Agh! It's happening again!
I've got a song from my current favorite band stuck in my head. When I wake up in the morning, the song is playing in my head. When I'm grooming, looking at the man in the mirror, the song is in my head. When I'm driving and at a traffic stop, the song is in my head. While business meetings go on and on, like a daydream with a soundtrack, the song is in my head. You see, I made the mistake of downloading a song I heard while in a restaurant sometime this summer (thank you to the “Shazam App”). This song, which I never heard before, just fused with my brain. I loved it. Since then, I have downloaded all the albums the band has made. I've attended their concerts twice, and of course I have played their music in my car and on my iPhone.
And now, I can't get this one song out of my head. Everyone knows what to do when you can't get a song out of your head; you pick another song, right?
You know, just sing: “La La La La La La La...”
Distract yourself from the words of the song streaming through your mind.
As I was washing dishes today, the song snuck into my head again and I was suddenly aware of other things that have the same effect on us.
Sometimes we have unwelcome tracks playing in our lives. Some of these unwelcome songs—harmful words from kids on playgrounds, discouraging memories from family and work mates, unpleasant views of our self or our performance, or 1,000 other ways we tear ourselves down—can take up residence inside us and rise from the musical deep within and begin to play.
What do we do when the painful words of others have worn out their welcome like the song in our head?
The advice is the same: we must move on. We intentionally set our minds upon a different strain of music, one that will contrast, displace, and even erase the old unwelcomed tune. We separate from the people that have thrown insults and hurt and we abandon the playgrounds and locations that hold the sore memories.
There's no need to get too deep here. This is where a mentor can be helpful.
If you've got old tapes playing, old tracks that have become unwelcome and perhaps a bit too loud within you, one of the things you can do is talk over this tune with someone outside of you, someone who has no knowledge or necessarily needs to love the music which has played inside of you so comfortably. Perhaps you can receive the gift of a new song. Perhaps a mentor, coach, therapist, consultant, or sponsor could be the right conversational partner to give you new words, new thoughts, or a new song.
I still love this band that has invaded my life in the last few months. I still like the music, but sometimes it is with me even before my mind is fully awake. However, I am not okay with being ruled by anything, so for now, I'm changing stations. I'm revisiting some of the other music, which has made me.
What are you going to do with the songs playing within you? Maybe it's time to go listen to some live music from your mentors and friends.
Question: What do you do to change the song within?
