Let's close our eyes.
Do you know there is a voice in our head that is constantly,
Constantly talking,
Narrating,
Judging,
Criticizing.
Most of us have it and it's funny how no matter what age,
Ethnicity,
Country we are from,
We have that voice that acts pretty much the same.
I don't remember learning it about school,
Learning about it in school.
I don't know where it came from,
But I learned it.
I'm sure it must be the case for you as well.
If we are having an uneventful period of time in our life,
This voice in our head is merely a narrator that operates nonchalantly under the radar by stating whatever we know as obvious.
If I stepped out of the building now because it's extremely cold outside and I know it going in,
I mean going out,
And when I feel the cold on my skin,
I know it's cold,
But there'll be this voice that'll make its presence felt by saying,
Oh it's cold.
And now we are off to having a conversation in my mind as if there is more than one inside of me.
Narration is the jibber jabber that is constantly surrounding our minds.
That's why a lot of people have headphones with loud music in their ears.
That's the only way to drown that voice by listening to something louder.
Complaining is another pastime for this voice.
Complaining about others,
What they should have done or not done,
Should do or not do.
Judging is also a part of this game.
And it's not that we sit down and decide that okay,
This is judging time.
It's just a reaction that happens instantaneously.
Just like the narration happens,
The complaining happens,
The judging happens instantaneously on its own accord.
We might not say something aloud,
But I'm sure we all can relate to this judgment coming up,
Showing up within us.
Sometimes about trivial things.
And the most dangerous function that this voice does is judging and criticizing ourself.
Because you see everything you do,
Everything you think,
Feel,
There is a lot of material that this voice gets to judge you.
One mistake and you can hear the wrath of this voice.
Oh,
You're stupid.
You shouldn't have done that.
That was a crazy idea.
That was a crazy idea.
You will never achieve that.
You are not good enough.
You're not good for that.
And the funny part here is this voice always addresses as you or sometimes by your first name.
This righteous voice that shows up is there to criticize us,
Judge us,
Guilt us,
Shame us,
Make us feel worse than any words could make us feel.
Any words from someone else could make us feel.
And this is happening to all of us.
It's happening to our kids.
It's happening to our parents,
Our friends.
This voice is responsible for a big,
Big chunk of our unhappiness and misery.
And even if there is praise from someone else,
You will hear this voice counter that praise by mistake you have just committed to that that praise is also undermined in a big way.
And this voice is at its best when you're trying to do something new,
Something you're not good at.
You'll find all kinds of ways that you'll go wrong.
You'll shame yourself.
Now people will laugh at you,
Etc.
Or sometimes this voice is just working over time to find faults in other people.
And we all know those kind of people where no matter how good a thing might happen,
They only see wrong.
So if this voice is left unchecked,
It grows up to a bitter,
A bitter,
Bitter voice.
And I don't need to tell you that this bitterness is not just in your mind.
This percolates our body.
No wonder we are so diseased in our minds and in our bodies.
Because we don't know what to do with this.
Anxiety is a direct result of this voice.
This voice paints a gloomy picture.
And you're scared.
That's what anxiety is.
But the root of all this,
So far I've painted a very gloomy picture.
I hope you realize how unhelpful this voice is in our lives.
It has its role.
That's the voice that will help you think,
Hedge against mistakes,
Unseen things.
But it's a huge cause for unhappiness in our lives.
It's like a tool that needs to be used and put away.
Otherwise,
It will run havoc in our lives.
The root of all this,
The root of our unhappiness from this voice is that we believe it.
We believe everything that the voice tells us.
If we didn't believe it,
This would just stay as is.
Like we pass someone in the mall or at the light,
And then they're just yelling on top of their voice,
Screaming random stuff,
And you just move on.
You don't think twice about what was said.
Even if some really crazy stuff was said,
You don't believe it.
You just go on with your life.
It leaves no trace in your life,
So to speak.
But somehow we believe this voice.
Why?
It's not that this voice is right all the time.
In my experience,
To be honest,
This voice is right maybe 0.
01% of the time.
You can't do this.
You can't do this.
It's dangerous.
You shouldn't do this.
You're stupid.
You're stupid.
You're stupid.
I might act like stupid,
Only 0.
01% in my life.
So over 99% of the times,
This voice is wrong.
Yet,
We believe this voice.
Imagine if we personified this voice as someone who we have hired as an employee,
And they were wrong 99% of the times,
More than 99% of the time.
What the hell?
Even if they were wrong 50% of the time,
We would fire them.
We would let them go.
Yet,
Our lives seem to be operating under this influence 100% of the times,
Despite such a bad track record.
Why do we believe that this voice is right all the time?
And this belief is ours.
We can always withdraw this belief.
Sure,
We all make mistakes.
Doesn't give a right to anyone,
Including this voice in our heads,
To flaunt our mistakes in our face all the time.
Not everyone is good at everything.
So when we are trying something new,
Something we don't know,
We are bound to be scared.
We're bound to not do well.
So what?
Doesn't give a right to this voice to belittle us,
To paralyze us.
So instead of fighting or believing,
A more humane,
More conducive to happiness approach would be to just ignore this voice,
Unless it is pointing to actual physical danger.
It is trying to communicate actual physical danger to us.
Everything else won't kill us.
And unless we want to actually think about a problem,
Reason it,
Then we need this voice.
Any kind of judgment,
Criticism,
Complaint,
Jibber jabber is useless.
And we should attempt to withdraw our belief that this is good for me,
Or this is the only way.
No,
We don't need to drown out this voice by something louder and desensitize our lives.
Instead,
We can operate from a stand of wisdom.
And this is that stand where we see clearly that there is no reason to believe this voice all the time.
And believing this voice only increases unhappiness and misery in my life.
And slowly withdraw this.
Every time it creeps up with negativity,
With complaint,
With jibber jabber,
Just pause and let these words resound in our minds.
I don't need this.
I don't need this.
And then watch this sound,
This voice this voice just disappear.
If you argue,
It'll argue back.
If you fight,
It'll wrestle you.
But if you stand with wisdom,
Asserting from every cell in your body that I don't need this,
See what happens.
Thank you.
