Are you aware that you have voices in your head? If you thought “what voice?” that’s the voice I’m talking about. Talking to yourself is nothing to be ashamed of, the fact is people do it all the time. However: In terms of peace of mind, freedom from stress and living the best life possible, you need to be aware of what the voice in your head is telling you.
When you aren’t aware you have no choice. You follow and do and feel and react accordingly to the voice. We’ve lived with the voice in the head for so long we more or less follow what it says.
It’s one result when you go with the voice that says “I’m hungry”, completely another path when you believe the voice that states “I can’t”. Perhaps even more insidious is the voice that goes “I should”.
In awareness you have choice.
In knowing the voice you can create a space of freedom and exploration of what happens when you don’t automatically go with it. The next step stops being a reactive, “what you have always done” movement and starts becoming creative - the consciously living of your life. You can be aware of restrictive or limiting patterns and habits and make other choices.
Choice is the key word, always.
Even just for a couple of minutes, stop and observe your thoughts. In watching you can see what there is in your own head. Let them come, and let them go. If it helps, maybe count them. Assign each one a number as simply as if you were counting clouds in the sky as they pass by.
For each thought there doesn’t have to be a reaction. Every thought can just arise and then fall away to where ever it came from.
Equally, just because you think it, it doesn’t mean it is true. A thought can simply be an idea, a label, an interpretation or an option. Does that make sense?
For example, there doesn’t need to be a link between a “bad” thought and feeling bad - it can simply be an option to choose to feel bad that you don’t take, you just observe and let go.
Just because you have thoughts it doesn’t mean that you are the thoughts. Because you can be aware of the contents of your mind, it means you must be more than those contents. Your thoughts need not define or be the limit of you.
If this is so, if you aren’t your mind, if you aren’t your beliefs, if you have choice, then what are you? Be aware and find out. Know thyself.
It’s worth doing because the most important question to me is always “how do you want to live?”
However that is, don’t live blindly. There is always more beyond the voices. There is always choice. Always.