Who Do I Listen to In Here?
Which of your inner voices do you believe and follow? The voice of doom and gloom? The one that says everything will work out fine? The one that alerts you to be careful? We each have a variety of voices inside our minds that take different positions and tell us different stories based on the circumstances we encounter in life. Those inner voices drive us towards action, and often, they are saying different things and pointing us in opposing directions creating confusion and frustration in our lives. One way to create the peaceful and buoyant inner experience we seek is to bring those multiple inner-voices into alignment. Feeling peaceful, buoyant, joyful, eager, creative, inspired and free inside is our natural birthright when the major aspects of ourselves get on the same team together inside. By aligning those inner aspects of ourselves, we can become a clear channel for the unique energy that we are and become fully embodied and authentically expressed.
We are both physical and non-physical beings. We have outer-senses that allow us to explore our physical environment (sight, touch, sound, smell, taste, touch), and we have inner senses that allow us to explore our non-physical environment (thoughts, emotions, imagination). Our inner senses speak in specific voices in our minds and each one plays a different role in our lives. As we begin to shift our attention from our outer experience to our inner experience, we can begin to identify those specific voices and relate to each one in a useful way.
The first voice to become aware of and invite to play a larger role in our life is the one connected to the field of consciousness (presence, spirit, god, goddess, quantum field, source, everything, etc.). This voice inside is often referred to as our guardian, the higher self, or the ‘I Am’ presence – the whole and complete version of who we really are. It is the You that looks out of your eyes in the present moment, aware of what is happening without any thought, commentary, opinion, or judgment. Just subjectively experiencing what is present with you in each moment - the sound you hear, the air on your face, the breath in your body, the chair you are sitting on. It is the You that stays the same age inside even as the body ages. It is the eternal You that never dies. This aspect of ourselves is an access point to greater awareness and joy, and while it is a softer voice, it can clearly be heard when we intentionally ask for its inner support and pay attention to it. We can tune into this voice for a broader perspective, unconditional love, and acceptance of whatever we are experiencing.
Another aspect of ourselves is our inner child, who is still holding onto and being affected by old unexamined and unexpressed feelings of the past. The inner child is the part of us still looking for the unconditional attention and acceptance that we never got from the adults around us. The inner child may be operating on limiting beliefs and have emotional wounds that were never fully recognized or attended to. These wounds live on in the body’s cellular memory, even when we are not aware of those wounds as adults.
The last aspect of ourselves that we need to come into right relationship with is the ego that is always scanning and monitoring, vigilantly focused on regrets from the past and assessing problems in the future to protect that inner child from pain. The ego is the loudest voice for most of us and the one that we give most of our attention to as we believe it tells us the ‘truth’. The ego has formed many limiting beliefs that have us think the pain we experienced as a child was something we deserved so we didn’t have to question our caregivers or see them as incapable. These limiting beliefs can have us see ourselves very differently than our higher-self sees us - and that is the source of our misalignment and suffering. While we think the ego is telling us the truth, it’s guidance is based on lies that were meant to protect us from pain when we were very young. As adults, these lies are no longer useful, yet we still believe them. We can identify the ego’s voice because it is always trying to create and then solve problems (ours and other people’s). The ego focuses on regrets about the past and promises for the future where we can’t take any action. Our only real power to make decisions and take action on our own behalf is in the present moment – regardless of how hard our ego tries to convince us otherwise.
As adults, we have a choice as to which voice we decide is true for us now that we are no longer small children. We can stand up for our inner child and take charge with our ego by questioning what is and isn’t true for us in each situation instead of believing what the ego says as the truth. We can remember to access the support of our higher self to remind us what is true about us at this present moment.
What inner voice will you follow today?