The Voice in Your Head ...

By now, unless you're a baby, you've noticed that you never have a day off from your thoughts. They're constant. They literally don't allow you to rest. Maybe when you're sleeping. But then again, you may be dreaming about something inspired by your thoughts, and the horrible cycle of "mental occupation" continues.

Have you also noticed that the voice in your head is never content? It always seems to have a problem with something. And on a day that it may not, beware, it will again within hours or days. You can be sure of that.

You will never be free of problems until you are free from your mental voice. As long as you pay attention to each reproachful or worrisome thought that comes along, you will not be free.

And by the way, thoughts are typically not your friends. They are biased and perceived through filters, often created in childhood. You can't trust them. For example, if a thought says, "You're worthless. Give up now before you suffer ignominy." That, there, my friends, is an unskilled thought and full of--to quote a word I recently heard--malarkey.

Let most of the thoughts go right on by. Don't stop to gawk at them like you would some accident on the road that causes untold congestion. In actuality, that's what thoughts do--they cause congestion in your brain, rendering you useless at times while you stop to analyze the looping thoughts swirling around in there.

Free yourself. Here are some ideas ...

1. When an unskilled thought comes in, don't pay attention, just say, "Yeah, yeah ... keep going."

2. Replace it with a positive thought. For example, "You are incompetent! Why are you even trying?" Replace with, "You are amazing for trying. You've got this!"

3. Laugh at it! You may think this one is crazy, but some thoughts are truly ridiculous. They deserve to be laughed at and deleted from your mind altogether.

Give those a try. Clear the clutter from your mind and live more freely!