Toning down the robots in our head

Turning up the volume dial of our innate wisdom

If I asked you what you want, what you actually want, once you have got what it feels as if you want, what would it be?

And if you had that, what would it do for you or allow you to feel? And what would that bring you?

And if you had that, what then?

These were questions I was asked on a personal development course a few years ago, versions of which I have come across since.

What most of us discover through this exploration is that what we most desire is peace of mind, the steady sense of being held by life, with a flow of insight and inspiration so we take our next step with joy and clarity.

From that place of well-being and trust, what we do and how we behave is beneficial to ourselves, other people and the wider world because we are in touch with our innate intelligent wisdom, our natural life force. We know we are a part of the whole interconnected web of life.

Would we deliberately harm or exploit people or the planet if we knew well-being was our natural state? What if our natural inclinations were to help keep ourselves, our community and our planet in balance?

So how come humans have been so cruel, so selfish, and so greedy that we now jeopardise life on Earth?

I think it’s the robots.

I am not suggesting that zombies or aliens have landed and infiltrated our communities. I’m talking about the routine, pre-programmed thoughts and feelings we all have, which hide from us the realisation that we are all fine, connected and loving.

Instead, their familiar robot voice or the uncomfortable feelings they provoke, tell us that we cannot be content and secure unless and until we have fixed our shortcomings, our circumstances or the legacy of our difficult past. Because all our unwanted feelings reflect the thoughts we unwittingly pay attention to, and that makes them feel true.

And, once in a while, we experience the robots quietening down. We notice the beauty of a smile, a view, a piece of music. Our hearts soften. We feel the flow and instinctively know what to do next. Whatever we are up to, playing a sport, drawing a picture, listening to a friend in need; we follow the current of energy and the truth of who we really are.

We have all heard a gentle whisper nudging us to act, which may have been unexpected yet rather insistent. Following it turned out to be the right thing to do. We later realised our mistake when we ignored it, automatically following the robots’ instructions.

So here’s an experiment. Turn down the volume on the robots. They may rebel. They might make you feel more uncomfortable at first. But they are just robots. An early bit of your brain programmed them to keep you safe. Back in our ancient time, when lions and sabre-toothed tigers were out to get us, they taught us fear and insecurity.

They meant well. But times have changed. Very few of us are in mortal danger today. But being robots, they can’t change their own programming. It takes us to notice more and more that we have a deeper wisdom which is more trustworthy but less clamorous.

So allow the quiet nudges of your intuition. We are a part of the intelligent wisdom that runs all life. We do know what is ours to do next and feel the joy and fulfilment of that when we find the volume knob to turn the robots down a bit so we can hear the wisdom of our whispers.

I managed to turn down the volume knob to shut up the incessant robot self-doubt chitchat and accompanying stomach churn so I could draft this post on a pad of yellow paper. It happened to be during a silent Zoom call, creating a space for a group of women I am part of to get on with our projects. Sometimes I need support to grasp the volume control. But it is always there, right beside me.

Focusing on what I actually do want, to reach people interested in the inside job of taking action for the world (and not on what I don’t), makes it easier to turn the robots down too.

On my Zoom screen in front of me, one woman is painting to raise money for charity, another is researching solutions to a community challenge, and a third is writing to potential supporters. Each is contributing uniquely to the planet’s peace and harmony.

I would love to hear what prompts you have listened to and acted on. What supports you in letting the robots’ usual chatter quieten down? What else would support you?