Listening to Yourself, the Good, the Bad and the Confused

Somewhere inside us, whether we ever know it or not, there is a tiny, sometimes larger, voice of wisdom.  Really!  When we are slowed down enough, able to tune in enough to our deep inside selves there is a guiding beacon or whisper or nudge, whatever your sensory modality of choice might be.  This little other is really our deepest knowing, our own bit of wisdom of knowing what is best for us.  In Pinnochio it manifested as a conscience in the form of a little magical cricket.  Not being fond of bugs I’m happy to not have this manifestation.  I would love it if mine showed up with little wings sprinkling fairy dust, but no.  What I get is this little voice saying things like, “Choose that one.”  “Get out of here.”  “Do the work, you’ll be glad.”  It tends to be pithy, no big displays, nothing flashy.  It also tends to be right.  I went the way it told me to one day and found out there had been a massive accident on the road I usually took.  Okay, good teaching moment.  Tuning into the little voice is very important.

There is another little voice that shows up saying things like, “Don’t go to the party.  Noone will talk to you.  It will be awful.”  This is my voice to ignore.  I call it the Eeyore voice, from the pessimistic donkey in Winnie the Pooh stories.  It is generally wrong and has derived its views from various worst cases, generally about 1 in 100.  It believes these are reality.  The Eeyore voice has a narrow view.  I try to be kind to it, and expand its horizons, but sometimes it is simply to be ignored.

I once had a brilliant amazing hypnotherapy teacher who told a story of hearing a voice that he thought was telling him to kill himself.  He is a brilliant man, but early in his career had to take a job on the night shift in a steel mill.  He was miserable.  He kept hearing an inner voice saying, you have to let go of this life.  He thought it meant he should commit suicide.  One day he abruptly quit the job , thinking if he really had to kill himself he might as well have some time off first.  He went off and did some things he loved to do.  Then the voice said, “FINALLY you let go of that life.”  The voice was telling him to make a major life change, quit the awful job he hated.  Not to kill himself. Sometimes we need to fine tune communication from these voices.

Inner knowing does not always show up as a voice, it could be a feeling, a lighter happier  more open feeling or a darker more closed sinking sort of feeling, and subtle shades inbetween.

Think of a food you love for dinner.  Visualize it, remember the taste and the feeling of eating it.  When you think of it, does your body/mind give you a positive feeling?

Think of a food you hate the taste iof or hated in childhood.  Think of that feeling you might get when you imagine having to eat it.  I get a “NOOOOOOOO” feeling, a dark, unpleasant feeling.  Do this with experiences you love, and experiences you hate, people you love to see, people that make you feel like crap.  The point is to become very aware of your inner “Yes” and “No” guidance systems.  When you are uncertain about something sit quietly somewhere letting go of regular worries.  Then ask yourself, should I do this (pause) or that? (pause). Wait for the feeling or the little voice. 

If you have a little voice popping up that is very critical and negative, ask it to expand it’s point of view.  Tell it that the very negative or critical point of view is missing a lot of the data.  There are generally good possibilities mixed in.  I visualize showing Eeyore a beautiful grassy meadow next to a stream of clear fresh water and letting him know he can have this.

When all negative outcomes are believed to be the reality, we get confused, and don’t always do what is good for us.

Notice the times you feel a hunch or a lighter, brighter feeling toward one choice, not the other.  This is the voice of intuitive knowing or your own inner wisdom.  Listen to it.  It takes you in the best directions.  To get more in touch with it do the Heart centered breathing for a few minutes.  Then focus on things that definitely feel good and right to you.  Notice the inner feeling you get from thinking of these things.  Then think of things you don’t like, things that are ba feeling, against your values.  Notice the inner feelings with these things.  Come back to a thought of a very inspiring person, someone you feel good about.  You don’t need to be like them, just appreciate who they are.  Notice the feeling.

Learn your inner cues.  Go with what feels good and right to you.