Continuing with Principle #1 from Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles” about being 100% responsible for your own life, I set the intention today to explore signals or signs that give us clues, hints, and inklings as to what to move away from and what to move towards. For me I’m usually good about catching signals, my issue is acting on them or talking myself out of them.
While Canfield’s focus for this idea was more about inklings as warnings or alerts, I felt pulled to look at how I get an inspired thoughts (1st voice) and then another thought comes in to discount it. For instance, one time I had this thought to call a certain person (1st voice), then I had an immediate counter thought (2nd voice) that said “they don’t want to hear what you have to say.” Of late I’ve been aware of the 3rd voice, a negotiator of sorts, who makes a good argument for the 1st voice thought and calms down the 2nd voice. btw…this whole conversation can happen in mere seconds.
Up until now, I tended to listen to (and follow the advice of) the 2nd voice. I realize that that voice is The Protector, the one that wants to keep me safe and in my comfort zone. Now that I’m aware of it, I’m learning to welcome the 1st voice (The Initiator — the signal), hear the 2nd voice and its concerns, and manage them with the 3rd voice (The Mediator or Negotiator).
What’s your experience with paying attention to signals? Do you tend the heed them, ignore them, or do you even notice them?
“A signal is comprehended
— Susanne Langer
if it serves to make us notice
the object or situation
it bespeaks.
A symbol is understood
when we conceive the idea
it presents.”
An Invitation
I invite you to color along with me this year as part of what I’m calling “The Year of Self-Exploration and Expansion” with all of my “Mandalas of the ___” (day, week, month, year). If you’re interested in more of a self-exploration approach to coloring, check out my “Coloring Mandalas as Meditation”.
Mandala of the Day 