Sooner or later you’ll grow fed up with the voice inside your head
with its constant murmurings of discontent
its fear-mongering thoughts of the future
and its questioning of every choice you make.
One day, you’ll turn to it and calmly say ‘I refuse to listen!’
then stand back and look away,
turning your attention to your surroundings
or to a quietness and spaciousness you can sense
inside you, just behind the voice.
The voice is so self-absorbed
that at first it won’t even notice that it’s being ignored
and will carry on chattering away to itself.
You’ll still hear its complaints and criticisms
but they won’t convince you anymore –
you’ll doubt them, laugh at them, reject them.
And gradually, without the fuel of your attention
the voice will become more hesitant
will stumble and slow down, leaving space;
until eventually, that self-assertive drawl that demanded to be heard
and seemed to submerge the rest of the reality
will be no louder than a whisper, like a gentle breeze
that seems to be part of silence.
~ Steve Taylor