Originally posted on Facebook HERE
Thinking a lot about the two voices inside our heads lately. There’s at least two in there, maybe more – because when we argue with ourselves that says “two”, but… isn’t there a third entity behind it all watching the argument? For purposes of today’s discussion, we’ll use two voices, though. Voice number one is the voice that narrates our lives. It’s sometimes called our ego. In my book Feed Your Angel I called it the “fast mind”. Voice number two comes from deeper within. It’s our soul, our conscience, the part I called the “slow mind” in Feed Your Angel. The issue that we all have to deal with, though – when a thought enters our head… where did it come from? Is this our fast mind just trying to get us to do something that really will not help us at all in the long run, or is it coming from our deeper consciousness? It isn’t like there’s two people in a room talking to you and you can see which one is speaking. You just get an idea, and start thinking about it – maybe it’s a huge, life-changing decision – and it’s not always clear how it got there. Sometimes our conscience speaks to us and we get fantastic ideas but fail to act because of fear and uncertainty. Sometimes our ego gives us wild ideas about things we could possibly do that have no real benefits to us, but we become obsessed with them. The part of us that gives us “worldly” ideas is great at feeding them with obsessive thoughts, because it’s the part that never stops talking and grabs most of our focus on a daily basis. Maybe things aren’t going so well at work, and you start thinking about quitting. That could be either voice. It could be your soul saying “get out, there are many better options for you”, or your ego just getting frustrated and trying to bail from what really isn’t anything as bad as what you become obsessed with. How do you know which voice it is? It can be very hard to discern between the two, which is what makes decisions so hard at times. The only way I’ve ever been able to get any type of feel for this is through meditation. Because, if we don’t know the deeper voice within somewhat intimately, how can we ever know when it speaks to us? In his book “The Rhythm of Life”, Matthew Kelly says, “The deepest desire of our hearts is for peace. The needs that correspond with our desire for peace are silence, simplicity and solitude.” The more we can make getting in touch with our slow minds a part of our daily routine, the easier it will be to figure out where our thoughts are coming from and ease the decision making process going forward.
