For the most part we get in the way of listening, to ourselves and to others. The problem is that we think we already know what the answer is going to be, or what we think it should be, and certainly what we want it to be. The questions don’t matter when we think we have it all figured out. We assume, but the real truth is we don’t know, and being blindly aware of this fact can lead us into a lot of trouble. Our listening becomes half hearted even when we really need to hear the answers being given.

Perhaps we are too afraid to ask the questions that need answering. Learning to listen is an art and it requires patience and practice. We have to be able to recognize the voice that comes from the center of our soul. We have to court the silence, get out of our own way, and open ourselves to what’s really being said. When we do it becomes easy to recognize our voice because there is an animating energy behind it. We’ll come across an idea, a quote, a piece of art, or a person that our whole body says an unwavering yes to. That’s the initial reaction we’re practicing to hear. When we learn to recognize it within ourselves we’ll naturally begin to hear it in others as well.

The good news is the answers are always there waiting to be heard, they’re just usually followed up by the ego and doubt. Then we head off into a completely different direction, often the opposite one we are longing for, and we’ve lost our voice again. The first thing we could to do is stop apologizing or tweaking how we really feel. This is a complicated and often difficult solution because we worry about the things we can’t control, like how others will respond, what they will or won’t understand, and upsetting the status quo. But listening means accepting what’s true for ourselves or another.

This kind of listening involves risk, we risk the old self for the true self. What’s being asked for is complete honesty about our internal truth. Mostly this is uncharted territory, especially these finer feelings that reside deep in the center of the soul. But listening to that voice sets us on our authentic path. Then we practice hearing what we have to say. The more we hear our voice the stronger it grows and we are on our way to becoming everything we were meant to be.

So start listening to the voice inside, it wants to be heard.

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