Yahoo! It's Monday again! Did you know that your soul greets every day this way? It may be hard for you to notice that inner ray of light and hope if you're paying more attention to your Self-Talk than your Soul-Talk. Most of us have endured legions of lessons luring us down the path of negative self-talk filled with "life's a bitch and then you die" kind of thinking. The good news is that your soul remains immune to this kind of downward spiral and is ready to soar yet again.
As noted many times over in this Soul-Talk series that began last October, your Soul-Talk is ever present, encouraging you to look beyond your immediate circumstances and into a higher reality. In fact, your Soul-Talk may be actually encouraging you to look deeper into your current situation to discover the blessings that may be hiding in plain sight.
The problem, of course, is that your Self-Talk, which may have already become fully activated in just these first two paragraphs, would have you believe that you are doomed in one way or another. According to that negative voice inside, you may never overcome what befalls you in daily life, that others more powerful than you are in charge, and that your only choices are to succumb or join some angry mob screaming about the injustice of it all.
If your Self-Talk is running rampant, you may be into full dismissal of this time-honored wisdom, labeling these ideas as drivel and the author as yet another snake-oil salesman. If that's you, no need to read any further -- unless, of course there is! (Careful now, you may be dangerously close to actually noticing your own soul-centered voice emanating from within.)
Soul-Centered Courage Is The Key
Soul-centered wisdom stems from your courage, from that deeply-anchored source of who you truly are. The source of who you truly are is resident within and needs nothing from me or any other pundit to validate its existence. Who you truly are is alive and well deep within your heart. All you need to do is listen past the noise of the world, past the noise of your own self-critical mind. If you do, you will notice the quiet voice of your soul encouraging you to step into a brighter reality.
As I noted a few weeks ago when differentiating between courage and righteousness, the word courage stems from the French root word for heart, "coeur," while the suffix, "age" comes from the Vulgar Latin meaning "associated with or characterized by." Another derivation combines the French for heart with a word from the Vulgar Latin meaning "to have good taste, to be wise."
From a soul-centered point of view, courage means to have the wisdom of the heart. In order to access your own heartfelt wisdom, you are going to have to turn down the volume of your Self-Talk and listen more closely to your Soul-Talk. Indeed, it is your Soul-Talk that is encouraging you to listen more closely even now, to literally "reside in the wisdom of your heart."
Surely you have heard that timeless cliché, and this too shall pass. Indeed, all things or situations will pass. What remains steady and steadfast is that inner connection to yours soul. If you would like to experience the elegance and wisdom of your soul, simply recall the last time you were at peace.
Where did you have to go to find yourself in peace? Was it a function of a place? Of another person? Of a particular circumstance? Surely we have all had the experience of being in the presence of another or in a particular environment that made it easier to experience being at peace. The question more relevant than who or where is one of how or what. How did you enter into that experience of peace? What did you have to do to get there? Perhaps even more telling: How did you exit that experience? What did you have to do or focus upon in order to no longer be at peace?
Are You Present With Your Peace?
Recently, I had yet another experience of this profoundly-simple truism. I found myself all bent out of shape by what I was telling myself about the pressure of an unreasonable deadline for a project deliverable that I was struggling with. As I was stressing about this and actually slowing myself down, my personal angel, also known as Inez, reminded me that somewhere inside things were OK and suggested that maybe if I took even 10 minutes to meditate, things would smooth out. It took a minute or two before my Self-Talk gave way and my Soul-Talk began helping to restore me to the peace that was already present within. Indeed, when I sat back down at my computer, just 10 minutes later, I not only was able to approach the challenging project in a greater state of balance and peace, but I was actually able to accelerate my progress. Surely you know the old adage, "You have to slow down to speed up." Seems like Soul-Talk has been around a long time!
If you let your soul speak to you on this question of being at peace, you may soon discover, just as I have many times over, that who you truly are is already at peace. Your mind and emotions may not be, but who you truly are is already there. The next time you find yourself at peace, ask what did you have to do, to notice, to allow, in order to enter into that experience of peace. And, when you discover that you are no longer at peace, what did you have to entertain in your mind or emotions in order to leave your peace and enter into your disturbance?
In all likelihood, it is your Soul-Talk that beckons you into your peace, while your Self-Talk escorts you into your disturbance. If you still have your doubts, and well you might, you can use your doubts or skepticism to your advantage. If you doubt, simply allow yourself to play spiritual scientist. Have you ever been in the presence of others who were disturbed and yet you were at peace? Or the other way around -- have you been the one disturbed while everyone else seemed to be at peace?
If you have been there, ask yourself what's the difference between those at peace and those in disturbance. I think you will discover that it is simply a question of where you place your focus. There's a real blessing in this simple reality: No matter where you are in your experience, you are but a slight turn in focus away from being able to create more of what you prefer.
Imagine a life where you could enter into any situation, or any circumstance could befall you, and your Soul-Talk would not only guide you through with its heart-centered wisdom but also guide you through in a state of peace and grace. If you can imagine such a state, then you surely will recognize that your soul is already soaring, gratefully proclaiming, "Yahoo! It's Monday!" Now it's just up to you to come along.
Your soul is infinitely patient, gently reminding you that who you truly are is just fine, biding its time while you learn to listen past the noise and into stillness of your heart.
I'd love to hear your take on this subject. What has been our experience with listening to the wisdom of your heart? How have you moved from disturbance into your own experience of peace and well-being? Please do leave a comment here or drop me an email at Russell (at) russellbishop.com.
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If you want more information on how you can apply this kind of reframing to your life and to your job, about a few simple steps that may wind up transforming your life, please download a free chapter from my new book, "Workarounds That Work." You'll be glad you did.
Russell Bishop is an educational psychologist, author, executive coach and management consultant based in Santa Barbara, Calif. You can learn more about my work by visiting my website at www.RussellBishop.com. You can contact me by e-mail at Russell (at) russellbishop.com.
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