In my Philosophy class last week, our facilitator asked us to consider the question “Is there anything constant in life or within each of us?”
My first reaction was NO. A flat resounding NO. Nothing in my life remains constant – it is always changing.
I am changing, the people around me are changing, my work is changing, the environment is constantly changing – and so it goes on.
But then a couple of ladies in our class shared some thoughts with us that really stopped me in my tracks. One of the women recalled her mother saying to her as a child that there would always be something in her that wouldn’t change – and this gave her great comfort. Another woman said that she had felt a deep connection with her inner self during a meditation on a silent retreat a few years ago. She has never since felt that connection, but draws comfort that she has felt it – and believes it to be a constant within her.
So I spent this week meditating on this issue. Taking time to mull over the question, spend time in quiet and deep reflection, allowing myself the mental space and time to get clarity through meditation on this topic.
And a week later I can safely say that my answer is YES. YES – something within me is definitely a constant. I’ve known it all along. I’ve just not KNOWN it! Whilst the world around me is moving at a frantic, unimaginably fast pace – there is a stillness, an inner connection within me that no one can touch, feel, see – or change. I can’t describe it – but it’s there. Call it what you want – our spirit, soul, inner being, inner voice, inner truth…but it is there. It guides us, it comforts us, it steadies us.
It is hard to describe something so intangible – something you may not feel on a day-to-day basis – something that if you tried to describe to some people they may look at you as if you are from another planet. Because not everyone understands this kind of deep, spiritual connection that you may have with yourself.
For a long time now I have found a STILLNESS that I get from meditating – and in this stillness I am able to hear my Inner Voice.
As an adult I have changed so much to what I was like when I was 18 and first left my parents home. Not just physically – that’s a taken – we all grow older and outward appearances change. I am talking about ideals, morals, values – they have changed. My outlook on life has changed – the way I interact with people, the way I interact with my environment, the way I interact with nature, the way I interact with myself – all changed.
In my work, I find I am constantly re-inventing myself. Not just with the jobs I do or the roles I take on – but the way I wish to be perceived and the persona I put forward to the world. In the last 20 years or so I have been on a complete roller-coaster ride called RE-invention! And, I am still working on it. But this is all outward, tangible stuff.
Internally however, that inner being has not changed. How can I be so certain? I can’t explain it – I just KNOW.
As time has gone on and I have grown spiritually (and older) my Awareness has grown too. I am aware of when my Ego is leading me, and when I am able to let go of my Ego – and make decisions that are informed from within. Not decisions made from the head or even the heart – but rather from that place deep within.
So yes – that is my constant in life. My Inner Voice – I choose to call it that – and I have been listening to it for awhile now. But it took me a long time to realise that it was there.
Why was I deaf to it? Was it because it wasn’t there before? No, it’s always been there. I just wasn’t hearing it because I wasn’t listening. I was too busy hearing my head, my heart, and the world around me.
And sometimes the Ego drowns out the Inner Voice – and quite often too Attachment (to things, emotions, memories, etc) also doesn’t allow me to hear the Inner Voice.
And yet, through achieving stillness, the quietest voice – my Inner Voice – is the strongest voice – the one constant in my life – providing guidance at all times.
Do you listen to your Inner Voice? Do you have an Inner Spirit that guides you? Or an Essence within you that you believe defines who you truly are? Something within you that is unchanging – your one true constant in life?