Heed That Inner Voice.

People have different opinions and if you go asking everyone what you should do, how to live your life or what path to take, you’ll be confused and you may also end up making the wrong choice despite your efforts to know the right one. Listen to your conscience instead.

Author: Utuje Bénie

Recently, I wrote something about the relativity of right and wrong and that we shouldn’t judge people’s actions based only on our perspectives.

However, it led me to wonder: Is there any such thing as a right and wrong action? If there is, how and who can distinguish them?

I know this is highly debatable but I’m choosing to present my view anyway. I believe that every choice we make, every deed we do is either right or wrong.

There’s no middle ground. Other people may not be able to determine whether the deed was right or wrong but the doer certainly knows. How is that?

Conscience

According to Longman dictionary of contemporary English, conscience is the part of your mind that tells you whether what you are doing is morally right or wrong.

This is what I called the inner voice. I’ve never seen parents sit and read to their new born child a list of what’s acceptable and what’s not.

The reason is that every child is born with that inner voice. The best thing about it is that it never lies. Then how come people make so many mistakes? I mean, who wouldn’t want to follow the right path? Right?

The thing is,

• Conscience tells us to choose duty over inclination and instant fleeting pleasures. Of course, this gives a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in the end; but let’s not fool ourselves, naturally, present things appear more desirable than things that will come in the future.

• Conscience tells us to rest when we want to wear ourselves out working so that we can obtain overnight what usually takes months to build –it tells us to be patient.

• Conscience tells us to forgive when we want to hold a grudge. Forgiving makes you peaceful but we feel like it’s only fair if we make the other person pay by staying angry at them.

• Conscience pushes us to step out of our comfort zone. It never allows laziness. I suppose I don’t need to explain how or why this is hard because I think we’ve all experienced fear and uncertainty, hence know how strong the feelings are.

Basically, it tells us to choose what’s right over what’s easier and more enjoyable. Here are the main reasons why we should follow our conscience:

Joy of having a clear conscience

Listening to our conscience is bravery.

• Joy doesn’t only come when the results of our hard work is finally materialized.

• It comes during that time when we are sweating while others are enjoying snacks in front of the TV.

• When we are waking up early and taking a cold shower while we could use some more sleep.

• When we are talking in front of a congregation knowing that one wrong word could make us look ridiculous.

In short, joy comes when we are choosing to heed our inner voice. This is because we know that we are doing the right thing –we are being brave.

The worst thing that someone could ever live with is a guilty conscience.

Robert E. Lee puts it perfectly; “you have only always to do what is right. It will become easier by practice, and you enjoy in the midst of your trials the pleasure of an approving conscience”.

Our conscience pushes us to pursue things that last

Some examples are;

• If you don’t steal, you won’t get money immediately but you will be trustworthy.

• If you help an elderly on the road, you’ll spend your energy, time or money but you’ll also be blessed.

• If you are kind to people, you’ll have many friends.

Heeding the inner voice minimizes regrets in life and makes you live your life as it should be lived.

What happens when we don't heed our inner voice

Why do you think it is harder to change when you are an adult than when you are a child?

If an adult has a bad habit, it means that they never took their conscience seriously when it told them that what they were doing was bad because didn't see the need to change.

Saying that our conscience never lies doesn’t mean that it pleads with us to make the right choices no matter what.

The more we dismiss that inner voice, the more it is diminished until it fades away. Our actions silences it or makes it louder depending on whether they conform to what it says or not.

To give you an example, when students go to holidays, they may think that they have a right to sleep all day because they’ve spent the whole semester working hard and therefore they deserve rest.

Of course, their conscience will tell them that they have other responsibilities, but if they do nothing about it, their minds will finally be convinced that the right thing to do is spend the whole vacation in their beds.

If you keep dismissing the inner voice that tells you to keep your room clean and tidy, chances are, there will come a time when you won’t even notice the pile of clothes that’s been lying on your floor for days.

People have different opinions and if you go asking everyone what you should do, how to live your life or what path to take, you’ll be confused and you may also end up making the wrong choice despite your efforts to know the right one. Listen to your conscience instead.

It will never lie to you. And don’t think that you will always have to fight. With enough practice, heeding your inner voice will soon become your second nature.