Voices in my Head
I’m devoting March to the voice in my head. You know the one! The voice that is a running commentary in the background of your day. This month I am going to listen more closely to that voice, to what it says, how it says it, and how it would sound if someone else were saying those words to me. Then I’m going to work on changing what isn’t in my best interests.
We carry the power to hurt ourselves deeply. We say things to ourselves that we would never, ever say to another person. ‘How could you be so stupid?’ ‘No wonder they left, you are a total loser and a failure.’ Then there are the words that others have spoken to us and that have been stored away in our subconscious. Parents, siblings, friends, co-workers and others give us messages that we take in and carry deep inside. Often those are the voices that come out when we are being hard on ourselves. The patterns are embedded into our systems, especially those that we heard repeated often. So much power in these negative opinions, so much ability to hurt us, to shape who we are, and to destroy our self-worth. Isn’t it time to shift the focus from destruction to self-actualization?
As you walk through your day, take the time to pay attention to that inner voice. When you feel yourself become harsh or critical of yourself or even someone else, step in and change it. I like to say ‘cancel’ three times as soon as I’m aware of the thought; to me, this erases the energy attached to it. I then find a way to say something different, something kind, compassionate, caring, or even full of empathy for myself for what I went through that caused that message to program itself into my brain and my body.
A while back I tried an experiment. I was driving along the major highway to Toronto and was appalled at the bad and dangerous driving around me. My first instinct was to curse the tailgaters, the people who cut me off, and those who were plainly not paying attention. My anger and frustration rose and my inner voice got stronger and angrier. ‘Cancel. Cancel. Cancel!!’ What if instead I sent love to each of these people? Even compassion, because for all I knew they were having a really bad day and it was their anger or hurt that I was picking up on. It sounds bizarre but the tailgaters backed off, I wasn’t cut off again and my energies lifted and lightened. I even started to sing along with the radio.
The wonderful thing about changing our inner voice is the depths to which it changes not only ourselves but also those around us. When we walk around caught up in anger or frustration it is felt by those around us. When we walk around with our inner voice soft and caring we carry that energy with us. When we walk in joy we radiate it outwards. People may not be aware of energy, but it is still perceptible to their energy bodies. Now take that out into the world. This is how we change the world, by carrying and shining our lights, our beautiful inner voices, on everyone and everything. Love conquers all. We should aspire to love not only others but also ourselves because if we can’t love ourselves then how can we possibly love the world and all that surrounds us?
So, will you join me in changing that voice in your head?