The Element of The Little Small Voice and Its Hope for Keeping Us On The Right Path

A Stroll In Thought by Anson Centeno

The Little Small Voice.

It can tell us whether to side with the majority or the minority on an issue.

It can tell us when to laugh at someone or something, when to remain silent.

It can tell us when to join in something, when not to.

It can tell us when something doesn’t look right.

It can stop us from going down a slippery slope when temptation strikes – and with god as our witness, temptation will strike.

Life is full of decisions.

But even the smallest, seemingly harmless decision can be a mine or trap – with the potential for devastating consequences.

Some immediate, some down the line.

We can be led down a slippery slope which may not end well for us.

The mines and traps are often alluring.

We want to be part of a crowd, to show we have spirit or spunk, to play with the big boys or girls, to have a little fun.

But if our Little Small Voice says “Don’t do it,” we shouldn’t.

We should be especially watchful for mines and traps in group situations.

“Let’s play a prank on X” someone in our group will say.  Or “Let’s do x”, X being a risky proposition of some sort suggested as a lark.

How do we get out of this situation - if say we are in a group in one car and have no way to extricate ourselves?

This is why we need to think ahead. 

So we can avoid situations where we will not be in a position to listen to our Little Small Voice.

The Little Small Voice is not to be mistaken for the Chicken Little Voice or the Green Eyed Monster which is also part of our persona.

While our Little Small Voice is our friend - as our conscience and our mind guard, our Chicken Little Voice is not.  Chicken Little Voice’s job is to keep us from doing the things we should do, by saying things to us such as “What if you get sick?” “What if you fail?” “What if you are a laughing stock?” “What if you lose all your money?” “What if it doesn’t work out?”

Our Chicken Little Voice is extremely imaginative and will come up with any number of devastating scenarios to keep us from taking a step forward.

Then there’s the Green Eyed Monster part of our persona - always looking for the fine print in everything…..

For the hidden agenda

For the manipulation

For the conspiracy

For the dastardly truth

The green-eyed monster imagines someone is pulling the wool over their eyes all the time. 

Telling lies. 

Hiding things from them.

The Green Eyed Monster is imaginative like our Chicken Little Voice and regularly mistakes ropes for snakes, jokes for snipes, memory lapses for indifference, and accidental oversights for deliberate slights.

Anything good happens to someone (sometimes even people we are just aware of, or acquainted with), the Green Eyed Monster rears its ugly head. It looks exactly like the little snot monsters in the Mucinex ads.  Its food is jealousy, it is easily fed.

Anything bad happens to someone we know (or sometimes even people we are just aware of, or acquainted with) the Green Eyed Monster rears its ugly head again.

Have you heard of the word Schadenfraude?  It’s a German word which means taking pleasure in someone else’s distress or misery.  Schadenfraude is the Green Eyed Monster’s stock-in-trade.

It is so sad, but the Green Eyed Monster part of our persona actually gets a satisfaction when bad things happen to anyone.  I remember an incident from my Palm Inc days. There was an accounting manager who was not very popular.  When she got pregnant and suddenly had to go to the hospital, everyone was waiting to hear about the baby.  No sooner had the baby been delivered, when emails went flying around to the effect of “X has given birth to a 4 lb baby girl”. I don’t remember the exact details, but I do remember the vicious focus on the weight of the baby and I remember shuddering as I read it.

The Green Eyed Monster regularly turns friends into foes, reducing your stock of meaningful relationships, of which you may already feel you have too few.

If you let the Green Eyed Monster loose, you will lose even more friendships, because your attitude is set up to be grudging and resentful at the slightest thing.

Of course, your Little Small Voice will get completely drowned out.

The Little Small Voice is also drowned out by busyness.  When we are busy being money-producing machines, or obsessing over our current hobby or acquisition or collection, there is no room for the Little Small Voice. 

It has a handkerchief over its mouth and is crouched in a small part of the house of our being.

The Little Small Voice is also drowned out by novel activity.  I read in a Psychology Today article, “we are better off with old friends and favorite tunes”.  A regular routine is the best environment for the Little Small Voice because we are more likely to hear it when we are relaxed.

Cheers to making 2014 the year we listen to our Little Small Voice.

Whether it’s making time for someone, in spite of a busy schedule….

….reaching out to include something in our schedule even if it’s an inconvenience and a drag…..

….being inclusive, even when we don’t feel like it.

….and most of all, letting our better selves prevail when greed, temptation or fear strikes.

We hold the keys.

We have the power

At work we may have bosses and bosses over bosses and dotted line bosses.

At home, someone else may wear the pants.

But when it comes to our minds, we are the boss – of all the different ideas and thoughts that run around our head - 3 of which are personified by the Little Small Voice, Chicken Little Voice, Green-Eyed Monster.

As I said in my post U-Hoo, let 2014 be the Year of Human Potential. 

We cannot express this potential if we carry around monkeys on our back like the Green Eyed Monster and the Chicken Little Voice and if we keep our Little Small Voice at bay.

So cheers to letting only one of this Trifecta prevail - the one that will keep us on the right path……our Little Small Voice.

As always, thanks for reading and have a great day and week…..M……a Pearl-Seeker like you.