Several years ago, Christina Aguilera sang a popular song “The Voice Within.” The lyrics go like this:

When there’s no one else, look inside yourself
Like your oldest friend, just trust the voice within
Then you’ll find the strength that will guide your way
If you will learn to begin to trust the voice within

There is the one thing that stands between…

You and your happiness in life;
You and your purpose in life;
You and your success in life;
You and your relationships in life;

It isn’t your personality;
It isn’t your popularity;
It isn’t your current position;
It isn’t your next promotion;
It isn’t the amount of your paycheck;
It isn’t the number of your possessions;
It isn’t your performance or status and certainly not the opinion of others.

It is instead, your capacity to PAY ATTENTION…to LISTEN…to HEAR.

When You Listen Better…

When you listen better, you live better.
When you listen better, you love better.
When you listen better, you ARE better.

“To whom or to what should I listen?” you ask.

Listen to the voice within.

“But which voice?” you ask. “I hear many within my head.”

So do I. There are many voices inside your head.
There is the voice of others – your parents, significant others, important people throughout your life.
There is the voice of your experiences – things you’ve learned and, sometimes, have not learned from successes and failures throughout your life.
There is the voice of your conscience – largely shaped by your upbringing, what you were taught is right and wrong.
There is the voice of your religion – what it has taught you about God, about yourself, about this world, about others.

What do all these voices share in common?

Confusion

That’s right. You hear many voices in your head and the confusion you often feel is that these voices are occasionally right, but very often wrong, and almost always in conflict with each other.

There is a better voice – a singular voice – a more perfect voice and one that is seldom, maybe even never wrong. Never conflictual. And, it is the voice you must learn to hear and to follow.

It is the voice of your HEART. Some people call it intuition, impulse, a gut feeling. It goes by many names. I call it the voice of your inner Divine nature.

Here’s an acrostic that underscores the importance of this voice.

Acrostic on the Inner VOICE

V – the inner voice is the VITAL voice; it is indeed the most important voice.
O – the inner voice is an OPTIONAL voice; it will never force you to hear it.
I – the inner voice is an INFALLIBLE voice; scripture is not; this, however, is.
C – the inner voice is a COMPASSIONATE voice; it will never judge you but love you.
E – the inner voice is the EXCELLENT voice; it will call forth from you, your best.

“How do I train myself,” you ask, “to hear and follow my heart…my inner voice?”
Make it your spiritual practice to follow these two simple instructions.

How to Hear Your Inner Voice…

1. Practice distinguishing the voice in your heart from the many voices in your head.

Actually, this is not hard to do. But making it a practice to pay attention to the single voice of your heart over the multiple voices in your head will improve your inner hearing. It’s like clearing the wax from your H-EAR. The many voices will begin diminishing and the main voice will be enhanced.
The consequence will be an enriched life.

2. When your heart voice speaks, do not just hear it, heed it.

If you heed it, you will be helped.
If you ignore it, you will be hurt.
I cannot say it more plainly than this.

Everyone can tell you a story of what happened when they did not heed the voice of their heart. But if you hear and heed the voice of your heart, I am certain you will never be disappointed by the outcomes.

Here’s a closing but personal and current example.

Throughout most of my life, I have been a highly impulsive person. If I have wanted something, I usually set my mind to getting it. I usually succeed, too. Even when I have known better…that is, even when my heart has said otherwise, when I have wanted something, I set out to get it.

My impulsiveness has not come without a price, however. Almost always, when I have ignored my inner heart, I have regretted it later.

Some of you who follow my blogs know that my wife and I recently had to euthanize our beloved dachshund, Oscar. We have deeply grieved his passing. About a month after his death, however, someone brought to our attention the availability of two new dachshund pups in a little town about two hours south of our home.

At first, I was determined to get them. Pam went along with me because she, too, has grieved Oscar’s passing. Besides, the two of us had agreed already that we wanted to get another dachshund some time in the near future.

We made arrangements, therefore, to pick up the two pups.

I knew I did not feel in my heart that the timing was right. But, typical to my style, I ignored the voice of my heart.

On Saturday morning, two weeks ago, Pam and I jumped into the and excitedly began driving to the community down south. We no sooner left Louisville, however, that I pulled the car over. In a rare show of strength, and atypical wisdom, I turned to Pam, and said,

     “Sweetheart, as much as I want to do this, I just do not feel at peace with our decision. I have been ignoring this inner voice. But, you know me well enough to know, when I have ignored my inner voice, which has been too frequently throughout our married life, I have regretted it later. I think we should call the pup’s owners, express our apologies, turn around, and go home. Yes, I want to get a new pup but not now…the timing is just not right.”

She agreed. I am pretty sure her inner voice was telling her the same thing.

Today, two weeks later, I am positive we did the right thing. And, what I have learned and know for sure is this…

When you listen better, you live better.
When you listen better, you love better.
When you hear better, you ARE better.