The Voice in Your Head

No, you're not crazy. You do have a voice in your head. And no, the voice isn't crazy either.

Sometimes during meditation, or on my way to work, or anytime really, a thought floats into my mind or my body. I assume I am daydreaming, but his thought is different - something about this whisper shakes me a little, like a breeze that sweeps across my neck and shoulders. I welcome whatever idea or question surfaces.

I smile.

I sit inside the insight.

Then, almost as quickly as the thought enters, I find ways to dismiss it. I start to feel crazy. After all there is a voice in my head and it seems unlike me. I search for loop holes. Silly girl. I question whether I made the thought up, or whether it came from somewhere wise, and outside of myself.

How do you discern your own want from your intuition?

You follow up.

First, you stop questioning the voice in your head. The more you trust the voice, the more you will be able to hear intuition when it knocks. The more you honor the voice, through action and curiosity, the more you will discover its merit. There are no weak intuitions, only those that are less acknowledged. Just because you don't believe your inner voice doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

And the more you honor your inner voice, the more it will tell you! A good way to acknowledge an intuitive thought is to follow up - when an idea comes into your head, while driving, walking, or working, and you are unsure if it's real, or you want to know more, continue to ask yourself questions.

Asking questions at least acknowledges that something spoke to you. Treat your inner voice like a friend, or the most perfect and free life coach. Get curious, and ask questions like, "What did you mean by that?" "Interesting, I hadn't thought of it that way..." "How exactly should I proceed?" "That's a lot, what's the next small step I can take?"

My favorite request of my inner voice is to ask for a sign. And I am specific. One time I was in so much turmoil over a situation I asked to be shown a yellow butterfly with black spots, to be sure of the answer. The next day, I got a letter in the mail with new banking information and I had to log in to a website. I entered the web address and when the home page popped up, there was a giant yellow butterfly with black spots perched on a large leaf on my screen. I had to keep staring at the letter, the webpage, and the butterfly, because I STILL didn't want to trust my voice.

Part of the reason it is so hard to trust your inner voice is because from a young age, many of us have been taught to ignore it. Maybe we witnessed a parent get angry, and when we asked them, in order to protect us, they told us we were wrong - “No, honey, I’m not mad.”

As a child, we feel confused. Is anger not what we thought? Is fighting not what we see?

So we learn to rely on what people tell us rather than our own intuition. it makes sense that learning to trust ourselves takes practice.

Your inner whisper could tell you to quit your job. It could tell you to think differently about a relationship you are in. It could drop a new business or creative idea into your lap. It could tell you to take a new route to work or to call your mom. Your voice will whisper big things and small things, and chatter away about ALL things to you, when you listen. I have found that when I at least probe a little more, even in the way of just playing along, more is revealed if I actually show up. My voice has never steered me wrong. This is not to say my situations always turn out great, or the way I want them to, but the outcome is irrelevant. And I know this by now. When I rely on my inner voice to guide me, I don't have to worry about the outcome. I only have to trust, and know that when I make a wrong turn, I can simply ask again. Allowing your intuition to come to the surface removes the pressure to have everything figured out. Someone, somewhere, already knows - and it whispers to you gently, if you listen.