I first met Cindy during my second year of college. It
was in the cafeteria where she bumped into me. Yes, she
literally bumped into me and her food tray went
crashing into everything. I heard her mutter under her
breath, "What an idiot!"

"Pardon me," I replied, not knowing what else to say,
but definitely feeling that it was not my fault.

"Oh no," she said, "It's always my fault. I am
really so clumsy. I am very sorry."

Then I realized that she was referring to herself when
she had said, "What an idiot." Over the months I got to
know her a little better. Sometimes we'd sit at the
same table in the cafeteria and other times I'd be
sitting next to her in a class.

It never ceased to amaze me how often she repeated the
phrase, "What an idiot", at the smallest thing that
happened. It was as if she had been programmed to
respond to the slightest misfortune with self-blame.

One day I finally asked her why she kept referring to
herself as an idiot. Her eyes opened wide as she said
that she was not aware that she did. She confessed that
it was probably a habit and that she always felt that
when anything bad happened, it was her fault.

She told me that the voice in her head always told her
that she was an idiot and pointed out that she was not
as good as others. The constant, negative chatter in
her mind had prevented her from achieving her greater
potential.

Cindy managed to graduate and we eventually lost touch
with each other. But I always wondered how she was
doing. I always hoped that she was able to still the
chatter in her mind and to change the programmed voice
to a more positive self-image.

The matter of chatter is a very serious one. If we were
to listen carefully to what we are saying to ourselves
we would find very interesting conversations going on.
If we are happy and fulfilled, these internal
conversations would probably be positive. If we are
constantly worried and depressed, we would probably
have sad and confusing conversations.

We can literally change the outside world by first
changing our inner world. Generally, it's our inner
conversations that determine what our outer world looks
like. If we constantly think sad thoughts, then our
self-talk will focus on sad things and the entire world
will appear depressing.

If we always think angry thoughts, the world will
appear angry. Even a beautiful sunset would appear to
be filled with angry shades of red. But if we think
peaceful and positive thoughts, the world will seem
peaceful and positive to us.

So how do we silence the endless chatter in our heads?
Here are a few tips:

* Try to find some quiet time each day and listen to
what you are saying to yourself. Don't be like Cindy
who kept calling herself an idiot. Once in a while we
all say terrible things about ourselves, but if we do
it too often, it becomes a habit and we start believing
those things.

* As you listen to the conversation in your head, do
not follow them. Just observe them and let them go. If
you start to focus on the thoughts, you'd get caught up
in them and then get carried away by them.

* After observing your thoughts for a while, you'll
find that they move on and you are not trapped by them.
Remember that your thoughts are not you. You only have
them. Don't even worry about replacing them with
positive thoughts; that will come later.

Simple as the above exercise may seem, it will have the
most profound effect on your life. Gradually, at first,
and then faster, you'll find that a greater calm comes
over you.

Because you've let go of the chatter, the noise
diminishes and you are now able to hear the voice of
intuition, the voice of the universe seeking to guide
and help you.

Yes, it's a matter of chatter and clatter and if we
turn the volume down, we will be able to hear the
beautiful symphonies of life.

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