Too Many Voices

I watched a video movie the other evening, a foreign film in which the actors spoke Czech. I had a choice of soundtracks, Czech or French, and since I recognize a few French words—well, after all, my class was at 7:00 a.m.—I thought it might be easier to listen to French. (Wrong!) Naturally, I chose to add English subtitles too. So here I am—I’m seeing actors’ mouths making Czech words, my ears are hearing French, and I am reading English. And I’m thinking, “Wait a minute! There are too many voices here!”

That can happen to us in our everyday world as well. There can be a lot of clamor—not real voices, but persistent thoughts. There is what you are thinking about yourself and your actions. There is what you think you should be thinking about yourself and your actions. There is what you think “they” are thinking about you and your actions. There is what you wish “they” would think about you and your actions. There are other possibilities as well, but that’s enough voices already. In fact, too many.

My mother used to tell me, “You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.” (Olin Miller, author) So turn off some of the disconcerting voices, even the overly critical self-talk one. And relax a little as your own “story line” unfolds.

MaryMartha
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Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com