DESCRIPTION

We are all born with the ability to hear. As children, we quickly learn the difference between hearing and listening. I have yet to meet a mother who does not complain about our tendency to avoid listening. When we resist what we hear, we simply stop listening. It is a basic mechanism.

When we shift this familiar gap—from directing attention outward to turning it inward—we begin to realize that we live in a constant conflict zone.

One voice pushes to the right, another pulls downward. A third asks for help, while another shouts: I’m right, I’m wrong, I’m not worthy, or I’m the best.

These voices are shaped by our upbringing and social conditioning. Most of them operate automatically, generating the inner cacophony we live with. We can ignore them. We can pretend they are not compelling us to live in confusion, tearing us apart or disconnecting us from reality.

Or we can hear them—and choose to listen.The results can be surprising.