Deep Down Inside, I'm Really Very Shallow

"Everyone should follow his or her own inner voice.  If he or she has no ears to listen to it, he or she should do the best he or she can." - 'Non-Violence,' Harijan, 29 June 1947

My mother used to say about herself that 'Deep down inside, I'm really very shallow."  I've always felt that this described me.

I pray.  I meditate.  I daily seek guidance from a Higher Power.  I have a spiritual community and I am an active member.  But 'Deep down inside, I'm really very shallow.'

I won't say that I have never heard from my inner voice, but it's rare.  I, apparently, often, have 'no ears to listen.'  That's why I read Gandhi and others who do have 'ears to listen.'  That's why I have a spiritual community.  These people had and have 'ears to listen,' and I seek their wisdom and guidance.

I don't think I have to reinvent the wheel.  Better people than I have shown the way.  I can walk in their footprints.

And I don't worry about being sheep-like.  My life and experience , my personality, the place I choose to live, the things I think are important, are different from anyone and everyone else.  The way I am guided by the those who have ears, will not resemble anything anyone else has done.

I will continue to try and follow my own inner voice, but when that voice is silent or I am unable to hear, I have voices from the past who have marked the path and I have friends and companions whom I trust who help steer me back onto that path when I go astray.

I'm grateful.