Hey Insight Timers,
This is chapter 2 of Body Love and Beyond.
It's called The Pesky Voice Inside of Your Head.
Close your eyes.
Pause.
Listen.
Do you hear that little voice inside of your head?
The one that just said,
Okay,
I'm closing my eyes,
I'm listening,
What am I listening for?
Yes,
That's the one.
The voice.
The running commentary of your mind.
The endless stream of chatter.
Your thoughts.
Now,
I'm going to say something I wish someone had told me when I was way younger.
The little voice inside of your head is not the capital T truth.
When I say the truth with a capital T,
I mean it's not the objective truth.
The content of the thoughts inside of your head may be your individual truth,
No capital T,
But not the truth or the reality of the situation.
Revolutionary stuff,
Right?
I know.
Just because you think it doesn't make it capital T true.
And you may know that logically.
You may logically know that just because a thought occurs to you doesn't necessarily mean it's relevant to capital R reality.
The problem is many of us live like the voice inside of our head is the truth.
And the experience of living like your thoughts are the truth,
Well,
That can be not so much fun.
I learned that the hard way.
I don't know if you've noticed,
But that voice inside of your head is not always very kind.
In fact,
Sometimes it says things to you that you wouldn't dream of saying to anyone else.
There's a reason for that.
You see,
The voice in your head is hardwired to keep you alive.
It's a function of your survival mechanism.
It's there to stop you from doing anything too risky or too dangerous.
It's the voice that will say,
Yeah,
Probably not a good idea to jump off a bridge.
That won't end well.
So yes,
It's good that it's there.
It protects us from real threats.
The problem is in day to day life when that voice also protects us from imagined threats.
It's a voice that says,
Don't talk to that cute person.
They may not like you and they may laugh at you.
It's the voice that says,
Don't go to that dance audition.
You're not going to get it anyway.
It's the voice that says public speaking.
Yeah,
Right.
That would be way too awkward and embarrassing.
In addition to real threats,
Yes,
You should run from the tiger coming at you.
The voice is also designed to protect you from any risk,
Any discomfort or any vulnerability,
Even though these things are necessary for living a full and rich life.
So those thoughts like you're not beautiful enough,
You're not smart enough,
You won't succeed at that,
Et cetera,
Are all part of the survival mechanism designed to keep you in your safety zone,
Aka comfort zone.
Once you are aware of this,
You can watch your thoughts and disidentify,
Detach yourself from any negative self-talk that's holding you back.
In other words,
You can be free from the hold these thoughts have on you.
So to sum this all up,
You are not your thoughts.
Your thoughts are not necessarily the truth.
Your inner running commentary is judging and assessing things to keep you safe and comfortable.
When you see a tiger and your voice says,
Run,
You should definitely run.
But when your voice is trying to protect you from imagined threats,
Step up to the plate anyway.
Go on that job interview,
Raise your hand in class,
Try out for that sports team,
Talk to that cute person,
Just go for it.
The worst that can happen is the outcome isn't exactly what you wanted.
And that's just kind of life.
The best that can happen,
You fulfill on exactly what you want to create.
