In case you haven’t noticed, you have a mental dialogue going on inside your head that never stops. It just keeps going and going. Have you ever wondered why it talks in there? How does it decide what to say and when to say it? How much of what it says turns out to be true? How much of what it says is even important?…If you’re smart, you’ll take the time to step back, examine this voice, and get to know it better. The problem is, you’re too close to be objective…Notice that the voice takes both sides of the conversation. It doesn’t care which side it takes, just as long as it gets to keep on talking…If you spend some time observing this mental voice, the first thing you will notice is that it never shuts up. When left to its own, it just talks. Imagine if you were to see someone walking around constantly talking to himself. You’d think he was strange…If you watch carefully, you’ll see that it’s just trying to find a comfortable place to rest. It will change sides in a moment if that seems to help. And it doesn’t even quiet down when it finds out that it’s wrong. It simply adjusts its viewpoint and keeps on going. If you pay attention, these mental patterns will become obvious to you. It’s actually a shocking realization when you first notice that your mind is constantly talking…
~ Michael A. Singer, from “Chapter 1: the voice inside your head” in the Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
Photo: Le bain ©️David McTanné (via Your Eyes Blaze Out)
Oh I’ve noticed! Apparently 70,000 thoughts a day, but I’m sure that can increase with stress. Lucky there’s lots of mindfulness practice to tame the beast. 😩
I’m sure I have over 100k and many incoherent.
i’ve read this and contemplated this, (more thoughts dancing), and it is a challenge at times when the old tapes are on loop. self-reflection, without judgement, (a delicate balance at best), taking the needle off the record, helps to stop the music, if even for a moment.
Yes. If one can, only for a moment
A fine definition of cognitive dissonance –
I need to look up those words. And yes, you nailed it.
the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.
A mightily fine definition, yours too 😉
Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
I know the feeling … ‘sometimes the worst place to be is inside your head’ …
Never have truer words been spoken….
I know, I realise, I even talk back to the voices in my mind, but hey, it’s called LIFE. At least my head’s inside is talking with somebody who likes to take part in discussions 😉
Laughing. Me too!
Mine does shut up at times. Should I be concerned?
Would you share just HOW you shut them up? Asking for a friend… 😉
🙂
That’s the thing, I don’t make them shut up. They just do. I like it quiet up there…
Just finished reading Black Milk by Turkish author Elif Shafak. I skipped the chapters where these 4 voices talk in her head, because this voice in my head wanted to start talking.
Dang. Was hoping for some tricks – besides drugs, that is 😉
Ooohh… I can’t skip chapters. Or paragraphs. Or even sentences. I will be drawn back every single time!
Maybe I should be concerned 😁
Nah…maybe you are one of the lucky women who has a “nothing box” like men do… I want a “nothing box” so bad…
LAUGHING…..
I do not have the “nothing” box like men do. And I don’t want that nothing box. I have no voices in my head. The voices in my soul are another story. Those are the ones that don’t shut up. 🙂
Hmmm… most interesting…
Very.
You have skills that 1% have.
0.01%!
Do you have the nothing box?
No!
Exactly. Please share.
I don’t even want to think of just how many thoughts are going on inside… they keep me up at night as it is. I suppose the alternative is that we are no longer of this earth so I shall try to make friends with them and observe just what they are trying to say…
Make friends with them. Hmmmmm.
Right… Then they’ll keep me even more busy trying to make nice…
Why do we believe that our thoughts are the voice of an OTHER? Are you having a thought or is a thought having you? Either answer YOU are in control. There is no OTHER. Remind yourself that your mind chatter is your construct, make it what you want.
Oh Elizabeth. Teach me how!
Maybe that’s why people meditate – to get away from themselves.
Good point.
Oh no… and I thought I was going to have a quiet weekend.
Interesting.
Funny. Have a good weekend Carrie.
Ha
I would like this far better if he owned his words instead of saying ‘you’ this and ‘you’ that. Because the first thing I found myself saying was, ‘not me.’ His points are well taken, but I do find it offensive when anyone tries to tell me how things are. For me. Aloha, David.
Smiling. I don’t like anyone telling me how things are either. With you Bela.
“Who are you really, wanderer?” William Stafford
I’ve also noticed, very recently, that I am always moving, in motion, in dreamstates. Humbling.
Ahhh. Love that Stafford line. Thanks Debra.
Have a great weekend David!
Oh thank God. I thought it was just me. WHEW!
Funny!
Love this and so true! I would like her timing to be a little better though – I.E. 4a.m. is not the time to start a “to-do” list that gets me spinning until 24 minutes before the alarm goes off ~ gah! 😉 MJ
Laughing!
It lies most of the time, that voice. Or spins barely plausible stories of disaster and ruination. Mine’s a bit like Stephen King without a sense of humor.
Mine is similar. Not King. But humorless. And mean spirited.
Bastards, all of them.