Invisible. Unloved. Unworthy. Insecure. Lonely. Weak. Disappointed. Unsatisfied. Afraid of Abandonment. Useless. Silly. Failure. Broken. Not Good Enough. Afraid. Frightened. Incompetent. Scared. Unsure. Sad. Angry. Helpless. Liar. Ugly. Terrible. Hypocrite. Fat. Unlovable. Inadequate. Loser. Unpopular. Alone. Crazy. Not knowing Whose I Am. Not Knowing Who I Am. Unacceptable. Irrelevant. Guilty. Stuck. Scared. Stupid. Incapable. Rejected. Who will care.

What’s your reaction to those words? Are they familiar to you? Do they break your heart or make you sad?

I attended a conference once and the speaker addressed the strong reality of inaccurate names. These are names others might give us and names we often give ourselves. These names define who we are…when we believe them.

Do you?

Think about the impact of that name in your day: you start your day believing that and the rest of everything you do is now tainted. Tainted? Yes. Because they are lies. Lies we believe that affect everything we do and most definitely keep us from doing the things we want and need to. Lies that prevent us from greater impact on the world around us.

The speaker led us through a great exercise: we received a blank card at the beginning of the conference and when instructed, wrote down our inaccurate names.

Then, we traded it. We trade it for a new name. A better name. An accurate name. We surrendered our inaccurate name and chose a new, true name.

Accepted. Loved. Precious. Funny. Capable. Courageous. Forgiven. Treasured. Worthy. Strong. Smart. Chosen. Beautiful. Lovely.  Graced. Transformed. Healed. Valued. Approved. Useful. Unique. Sincere. Gracious. Kind. Competent. Complete.

Better, don’t you think?

Did someone else call you by an inaccurate name? Or maybe someone still does? Do you call yourself by one?

Maybe not. But someone you know does. That list of inaccurate names came from only 20 cards, many with multiple names listed on one card. There were 100 others with more names.

How about trading up?

If you have one, take your inaccurate name, surrender it, and choose an accurate name, a better name.

If you lived from that name, think of the impact you’d have. I think your day would be different.

Do you?