Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Listening to the Inner Voice

Tags

Awareness, Conscience, going within, Inner guidance, Inner voice, Intuition, Listen, Peace, Quietude, Tranquility

All of us have an inner voice. A voice that advises us. Some call it your conscience, some call it “the muse”, and some don’t know what it is. What I find most interesting about this inner voice is how it reacts to what you do. If you listen to it, it gets more clear over time and gives you more. If you ignore it, it gets very quiet, almost quiet enough that you forget it’s there.

I believe in the inner voice, but it is easy to be fooled from time-to-time. So you have to ask for a confirmation before you jump at something your inner voice tells you. Sometimes we can confuse that inner voice with our own ego. They are dramatically different. If you listen long enough, you recognize the true inner voice and the one that is just you trying to talk you into doing something you shouldn’t do or keep doing. My inner voice is always succinct. When it speaks, it speaks in very short sentences. That’s how I know when the inner voice is the real deal.

You may call this intuition or the subconscious bubbling up, but I think it’s more than that. You may use your intuition to judge or interpret what the inner voice is telling you, but the inner voice is there. It’s like it is coming from deep within you. A place of perfect calm, peace, and tranquility. A voice that has no self-interest, no interest in gain, and no interest in whether you follow it or not. It is just there, providing guidance constantly. If you let it.

It’s the voice that raises a red flag, saying, “You better be careful with that.” It can also provide suggestions, advice, and interesting ideas, particularly if you are trying to create something. Think about Einstein, Edison, or any other great thinker. They all arrived at their novel ideas by just being quiet and going within. Whether it was Edison taking a nap or Einstein’s thought experiments, it was all about going within and getting the answer. How do you get an answer about something that doesn’t exist?

Hopefully, I’ve got you thinking. The inner voice, for those of you who know what I’m talking about, is a huge advantage. It provides you ways to avoid all kinds of self-inflicted trouble. It gives you ideas. It is always there. You just have to listen.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote

Tags

Conscience, Horace, Mind, Quote

“Rule your mind or it will rule you.” – Horace

Our mind is a very powerful force in our lives. It allows us to interact with our environments, maintain the systems we need to live without any purposeful thinking and is very good at comparing and categorizing our day-to-day experiences. The mind, however, is a horrible task master.

The mind is a horrible task master because of a few inherent aspects that allow really good things to happen, but also really bad things. For example, the mind likes to automate things, because it is efficient. Once you learn to ride a bike, tie your shoes, or pick up food with a fork, the mind automates this task. You literally do these things subconsciously after a little practice.

This same process is what makes the mind dangerous. Good habits like eating right, exercising, proper hygiene, and anything else you can think of that are positive are just awesome when we are doing them subconsciously. Bad habits like smoking, drinking in excess, eating unhealthy foods like processed sugar, unhealthy fats, using drugs (non-prescribed) are horrible for you, but the mind does not differentiate these things. Good or bad, the mind automates to save processing power.

How do we take control? We have to begin listening for that internal voice (Conscience, God, the Universe, whatever you want to call it.) This internal voice is separate from the mind. The problem with this voice is its volume is affected by the attention we give to it. The more you listen to this voice, the louder it gets. Conversely, the more you ignore the voice, the less you’ll hear it.

Try listening to this voice. It will provide you with input that allows you to change your life for the better. It will also give you a nudge when you are doing something wrong or harmful. Initially, the voice will be very quiet. Once you begin listening to it, however, it will grow in volume and will become a very helpful partner.

Rule your mind by going outside of it to get the “right” input. If you don’t, the mind will control you and believe me, it is not a good place to be.

Until tomorrow…