When was the last time that you stopped and listened? Not just turned off the music, or put down the ever present cell phone, but actually made time, scheduled it even, so that you could just take a moment to listen to that voice inside of you.
You know, that one you’ve spent so much time and effort ignoring with endless scrolling, mindless game playing or even endless eating.
Yes, that voice.
The one that is coming from deep inside you, that only you can hear. The one that is trying to desperately tell you all the things you need to know, but that you are scared of listening to because it probably requires you to change how you are living your life. Those changes feel scary, monumental and overwhelming.
So we drown out that voice with the noise of everyday life.
Although the internet has made information more readily available, it’s also made entertainment vastly more accessible, which means if you are looking for a distraction, you can find one. Like most of you, I’m old enough to remember when life wasn’t so hectic, and I had time to think about the things I had experienced, instead of running to a website or an app to distract me from what I was feeling.
And more importantly, what my soul was whispering.
Because if the internet has done anything, I can tell you that it has made it easier for people to ignore the voice of their own inner wisdom, and substitute the opinions of others over that of themselves. Trying to live your life in competition with the curated and managed Instagram feed of an influencer is the fastest way to take from your life any sense of authenticity.
There is no worse thing you can do than live your life trying to match up to a image that does not reflect the intentions, beliefs and desires of your own heart.
But some of us struggle to listen to the whispering voice of our soul because it’s being drowned out by the sound of our fears. As someone who still struggles to stay out of ‘survival mode’, I know that I have to get really quiet and focus hard so that I can figure out what it is that my soul is really saying. The fears that have become so ingrained in my as a result of some of my life experiences make it hard to hear what my soul actually wants.
And even harder to make the changes when I do figure out what to do next.
I’ve been learning over the last year to hear my inner voice by allowing myself ‘free-time’ not only in meditation, but also in ‘play’. Sitting at my computer and letting myself click on Youtube videos that intrigue me, I’ve come to see how my soul wants to live a quieter life off grid, where my wife and I could have more time for each other, and also more time to write and focus on this work.
As someone who grew up in a city environment, that still seems very strange to me.
But listening to my soul has become the best way I know to find greater peace and happiness in my life. Over the last few years, it’s led me to do things that have scared me, inspired me, challenged me and in some cases confused me. Yet every time I've followed that inner voice, I’ve found my life immeasurably changed for the better.
It seems that deep down, my soul knows the actions I need to take, even when they run counter to so many things I ‘believed’.
To quote Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple… “And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become”.
But how are you going to follow the wisdom of your heart if you never spend any time listening to its whisperings, and seeing where they lead?
So today, I’d like to challenge you to spend just 5 minutes in quiet reflection, and see if you can hear your soul, and the message it’s sending. If you’re new to this, don’t worry too much about the message right now, just focus on sitting and listening. Learning to listen is very important, because only when you can hear clearly can you truly understand what your soul is trying to say.
And once you can hear it… you’re ready to start on another adventure.
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings