Your Three Voices - who do you listen to?
Your thoughts are like a live-stream, you are criticising what you just thought, you are feeling off-balance and you are about to yell in frustration. Sound familiar?
What do you want instead? A clear mind, a calm heart, a good decision, and an effective next action would probably be your choice, if you are anything like me or the many people I have coached.
In this scenario, or any stressful moment, you are battling your three voices. What are they...?
1. The babbling voice of your endless stream of thoughts.
2. The reasoning voice of your beliefs.
3. Your Higher Self that is the voice of deep, unconditional wisdom.
In the above scenario of frustration, the voice of your thoughts is just doing its thing. Essentially, you are mind-wandering. The danger is to think you have to follow them all, or any one of them. Where will they lead you if you do?
So to make some sense of the mess your belief system kicks in and says, 'What I should be thinking instead is....' But this belief brings a feeling of being off-balance; it isn't working for you. And then frustration arises because a part of you knows you are more than this, a much more peaceful person, but you can't hear its wise voice because the thoughts are still babbling on.
Another scenario might be one where you are about to jump in and buy an expensive item that is beyond your budget. Your belief system offers up the idea that you deserve it as much as your cohort of wealthy social media friends - it is OK. But a slightly sick feeling stops you for a moment as that deeper part of you senses it might not be such a good idea right now. Thoughts, beliefs, Self all have a chat and fight for attention.
Learning to recognise these three voices is a great tool to ensure you take more effective action and live with greater peace and happiness. Thoughts will do what they will do; it is their nature, but the mind actually wants to be still. Beliefs are there to make life easier to handle, but need to be questioned and new ones created that are more supportive and set you off in the right direction. And if you can bypass the thoughts and the beliefs for a moment by getting still and quiet, asking powerful questions and contemplating your answers, you will start to hear very clearly the loving voice of your deepest, authentic Self. It only wants the best for you.
DISCOVERING THE THREE VOICES
I discovered these three voices in the reverse. I wanted to feel more connected to my own heart, to be wise and stay steady as I designed my future and set myself up for success. I wanted to live my life as an expression of my true values. I spent time thinking about the nature of my Higher Self, its voice. This instantly led me to see I have three voices vying for attention - which did I want to follow? Obviously, I wanted my Higher Self to drive my values, and therefore the beliefs I wanted to hold as my way of navigating the world, and then to still my mind enough to have my thoughts emerge from a deeper place than my random, computer-like unconscious mind.
USING THE THREE VOICES IN HARMONY
Silencing the mind enough that it can be one-pointed and reflect the Higher Self's view, contemplating our beliefs and choosing what to believe, meditating to go beyond the mind and into the heart of our true essential Self, will all help us feel greater equipoise. From a steady, grounded state of mind and emotion, we will take more fulfilling actions. Life will be a reflection of the greatness of our wise, powerful and loving Self.
