Listening To The Inner Voice

Listening to the inner voice is such an interesting thing to do. You never know what it is going to say!

Recently a woman I work with spoke to me in a very condescending and disrespectful way. Over the several years we have worked together, this has happened not-infrequently. It used to make me very, very angry. Until today, literally each time I have listened in prayer for how to respond, the voice has said, "bite your tongue, be humble, let it go." And each time I have striven to do that. It has been good practice for me to not react, and instead think of her charitably.

Today when these words came out of her mouth the things that were said were so out of place, so, not right for the situation, that the inner voice, in all confidence said, "It is best to let her know that what she said was inappropriate".

Interestingly, I still had to do some wrestling with feelings of anger because I knew that just because the inner voice told me to speak frankly to her, it was not a license to speak with anything less than love. In fact, the feeling was simply that this communication was what was necessary. Certainly not an opportunity to vent. I find the inner voice tells me to do not what I want, and not what someone else wants, but what best fills the need of the situation.

It is fascinating to me to see these thoughts evolve because in times past I came to associate confronting her with selfishness. I had wanted to confront her to tell her all the reasons the way she was acting were wrong. But each time, as I was honest with myself, I saw that blowing up at her wouldn’t do any good. This time, however, I felt in my bones that it would be selfish to not have this open communication.

This is what gives me so much confidence in the inner voice – it is not the same every time. It's not a rule book, but a living, adapting, creative voice that responds with confidence and causes me to be bigger and better than I have been before.

What is the living inner voice saying to you?