Which Voice is This?

by Mark E. Gibson MA, CLC

When you inner voice speaks to you, you probably “hear” things like:

“I’m not going to give it to him because he doesn’t deserve it.”
“What should I do now?”
“Why is she such a jerk?”
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
“I don’t want to get involved.”

If you aspire to nurture your mindfulness and spiritual growth, you would do well to recognize the origin of your inner voice that is speaking these kinds of thoughts and arousing feelings within you. Knowing which voice is playing out in your mind, right in the moment when the thought/voice first arises, can make a huge difference in determining if your resultant actions will bring more love, or pain, into your life and the lives of others.

Below I will share with you a “trick” that will allow you to instantly decide what kind of energy you will put out to the world based on which “mind voice” you recognize and respond to.

I’m certain that you will “hear” your “inner voice” utter the above kinds of quoted thoughts within your mind hundreds of times today, and tomorrow, and during each day for the rest of your life. Each thought, and the feelings we derive from it, leads us to make an immediate basic choice for our course of action: negative that is destructive and creates separation, or positive that is constructive and creates unity.  In both cases we can either react (make reflex, thoughtless choices) or respond (consciously put some thought into the implications of our choices and choose accordingly).

While experts agree that a healthy person can “hear” only one “mind voice” at a time (we have a singular focus of awareness), I believe that we actually hear the thoughts and feelings of two vastly different voices that alternate with each other moment to moment in our consciousness: we’re hearing either our ego inner voice (of our overly Protective Ego – “OPiE”), or our Heart Spirit inner voice (of the Soul).

The ego inner voice says things like:

“I’m not good enough.”
“She must be an idiot.”
“I’ll never speak to him again.”
“That was stupid.”
“I’m can’t do that – I’m ashamed of my body.”

The Overly Protective Ego (“OPiE”) thrives on conflict and emotional pain, much of which comes from us being fearful. This is our “Inner Critic” that we’ve heard so much about. Negative judgment of one’s self and others is the primary tool of the OPiE. Think of how often you have heard your Inner Critic voice. That’s your OPiE talking to you. Whether the negative assessment is valid or an illusion makes no difference.

These destructive thoughts and feelings (and our subsequent actions) are the signs of a mind that does not appreciate that minimizing negativity and feelings of vulnerability is good for everyone. An unconscious person brings negativity into our world through ego-driven destructive responses (fear, anger, domination, greed, violence, aggression) as well as through thoughtless, conditioned reactions. The net effect is increased separation with less sharing of love.

Do you want negativity such as your fear, anger, revenge, greed, and domination to continue to taint your life?

Conversely to the ego’s voice, the Heart Spirit inner voice says things like:

“How can I help?”
“This is good for everyone.”
“What is my learning experience here?”
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.”
“I’m going to give more love to him.”

As you read this, I want you to fully grasp the important differences between your ego voice and your Heart Spirit voice:

Now here’s the “trick “ I mentioned above: When you sense the emergence of a negative thought or feeling in your mind, immediately stop the thought and ask your Self, “Which voice is this?” Ponder the implications of the thought or feeling and see in your imagination what kind of energy it contains and what outcome it will create if you let it go to manifestation.

Ask your Self, “What kind of energy am I contemplating putting out here?” All too often the ego-driven choice puts out negative energy, while the Heart Spirit puts out only loving energy because it is incapable of being willfully negative. You’re in-the-moment awareness is essential here so that you can quickly stop a mental process that your Higher Self doesn’t support because the process encourages you to ultimately create pain and suffering.

Suppose you come upon a disheveled woman sitting on the sidewalk against a building holding out a can for donations. Yes, you immediately form a mental impression of her: your ego voices tell you that she’s low life, unattractive, uneducated, probably dirty, unproductive, and lazy. Your OPiE voice concludes that she’s not deserving, and you walk past her without acknowledgment. You look away, ignore her, and do not make any contact with her because it’s easier to avoid the guilt of not helping if you pretend that you were “not aware of the problem.” You listened to your ego voice, followed its direction, and you then were successful at preserving yourself (OPiE) by having a closed heart.

How would you respond if you heard and responded to your Heart Voice instead of your ego voice? First, you would be open and sensitive to the reality of her situation (presumed suffering). Then you would not go into negative judgment of her. Instead, as a compassionate person, you would search your Soul for ways that you could contribute positively to her wellbeing. Coming from abundance, you know that you have many ways to share with her that won’t detract from your wellbeing: you could drop some cash into her can (asking your Self, “Who needs it more, me or her?”), you could give/buy her some food, you could stop and talk with her, thus acknowledging her as a human being. You could send loving thoughts and a smile to her as you walk past. There are countless other ways that you could give love to her.

Consider the hundreds of personal interactions you have every day with family members, friends, co-workers, and strangers. When you first hear your inner voice – before you begin responsive thinking and speaking – try to identify the “feeling” of the message that is arises. Is it leaning toward negative/judgmental: disapproval, resentment, anger, avoidance, dishonesty, blame, revenge, and the like? Or is it leaning toward nurturing love, compassion, acceptance, the truth, and unity? Examining this “feeling” is your first tip as to where your inner voice is going to steer you.

Speak to yourself: “I don’t do this”: shut down those thoughts and ideas that are not consistent with values of your Higher Self (that you want to share with humanity), and willfully empower your thoughts that nurture love and unity.

My point here is that by you asking yourself, “Which voice is this?” (perhaps hundreds of times a day) you can instantly determine if you are headed toward putting out negative destructive energy, or positive constructive energy. If you want to bring more “good” into the world, then you can preempt the negative reaction or response by asking your Self, “What’s the best thing to do from here?” Chances are the answer will be to share some form of love. Then that’s what you do.

Here’s another useful exercise that will help you to become more mindful about how you can respond to your inner voice: When you are about to think or speak “I (feel)…”, “I (think) …, “I (will) …”, “I (want)…”, and other “I …” statements, immediately pause to identify who the voice “I” is that you are hearing. Then take a moment to hold your potential response up to your highest values to see if it is what you really want to put out into the world. You will instantly learn if the voice is a less than loving response that originated in your ego (“I’ll get even with her”), or if it is a loving response from your Heart Spirit (“Yes, I’d love to explore that issue with you”). Knowing who the “I” is behind your inner voice will allow you to easily choose a loving response to the voice.

My experience with this exercise has had a wonderful effect on my mindfulness and spiritual growth. With practice I have come to the point where the “pause to recognize the voice” has evolved into a spontaneous reflex (that consumes virtually no time and energy) from what was formerly a purposeful, conscious effort. It’s become a positive reflex that nurtures love and spiritual expansion, and I love my Self for it.

Recognizing the ego’s voice and replacing it with your Heart Spirit voice can become virtually instantaneous for you when, in moments of question, you ask your Self, “How can I give love to this person?” That is the essence of your Heart Spirit. Your ego will be overridden by love, and if you act on the suggestions from your Heart Spirit voice, you will greatly expand the peace and joy in your life and the lives of others.

In every moment, ask your Heart Spirit Self,
“What would love choose?”
and act accordingly.

Your comments please!

Mark E. Gibson  ·  541-897 0679  ·  coachmark@relaxyourlifenow.com