Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott.
Out and about in a very dark evening.
I'm looking up,
The stars are trying to peek through the grey cloud but yeah it's mild.
The weather has really increased in temperature and it still feels a bit fresh as I walk out and about at nighttime but I can't see the moon and I can't see many stars but I can see the lights in the houses in my village that are all lit up and they're like big eyes looking out at me as I talk to you on this patch of ground near the playing fields where I live.
And today is a reflection on the power of noisy thought or a noisy thought or maybe a better way to put it is a loud thought.
And this reflection came to me after I listened to something that was talking about people who are extroverts,
Who are often forthcoming with their opinions and ideas and quite certain when they speak.
And it was a book that I've been reading which looks at the power of introverts and I kind of see myself as an introvert.
I'm not somebody that enjoys being loud and I'm not somebody that enjoys social situations or maybe that's not quite the right way to put it but I do find myself getting quite tired if I am around people for a long period of time.
So I'm not the sort of person that just dives into social situations and enjoys being center of attention.
And this particular book I was exploring explains that just because somebody has a loud opinion and voice doesn't mean they're right.
Just because someone's got a loud voice doesn't mean they're right.
And it just struck me because I kind of knew that anyway but it struck me as like,
Oh no,
I've kind of always assumed that if somebody seems so strong in their opinion then they must be right.
And my mind flickered back actually to a walk I went on,
Took some friends and neighbors out on a walk to see some of the burial mounds up on Dartmoor.
And the mist came down and I know Dartmoor so well and I knew the walk so well I was really confident just to carry on walking.
And as I was walking one of the group started to question whether I was going in the right direction.
And he seemed to be quite forceful like saying no I think we should be going in this direction.
And his force of opinion kind of had me unsettled because I knew I was going in the right direction but I was unaccustomed to hearing someone speak with such conviction and not pay heed to it.
As it was I said I think this is the right way and sure enough it was the right way and everything was fine.
But it really struck me that even though I deeply knew the right way to go the force of someone's opinion and conviction actually had me question myself.
And it had me think you know that is the same with thoughts and thinking.
If I have a strong thought it comes through and because it's so strong and convincing I almost feel I've got to believe it because it sounds so true.
And today is a really great example.
I was writing some invitations.
I'm doing some talks on the pilgrimage that I walked last year and I was sending some personal invitations to people that might quite like to come on this particular talk.
And I've had a few come back saying no I can't make it I'm busy.
And the loud thought that sort of barged through the door of my mind was nobody wants to hear you talk.
Nobody's interested in your pilgrimage.
Why do you put yourself out there?
It was that sort of negative quite habitual thought.
I hear it quite often and luckily I know to ignore it.
But it really had me go do you know what that's a little bit like that person on the walk.
They barge into my world and say something so convincing that I start to doubt myself.
And thoughts are like that too.
Thinking can be like that too.
So today's reflection is that just because you've got a loud thought or just because somebody in your life is loud doesn't mean they're right.
In fact it's so important to look within.
Look within to that intuitive wisdom within you.
If you are looking for a guidance system look towards your inner compass and then it doesn't matter how loud your thoughts are you'll always know what to trust.
