Do you hear it?
If your world is anything like mine, “it” doesn’t contain a whole lot of silence. “It” is a lot of a lot. And it sure seems like there’s a lot of discussion about silence and rest and stillness and waiting right now.
While all of that is beautiful and wonderful, realistically, I don’t always have or experience a lot of it in my daily life.
The kids are loud.
The dog is barking.
The school events and concerts and parties and crazy Christmas sock days and Kris Kringles are super fun, but a lot. (But now we’re on break! We have quieter mornings now for a few weeks, but the days themselves, whoa watch out…)
There is live music-making in the house. Sometimes following me around the house.
The parties have begun.
The shopping has sort of begun and needs to ramp up real quick.
There are emails and texts and all the notifications. (Yes, I do realize some of you are reading this because you received an email encouraging you to come over here.)
I crave silence. Need it, want it, desire it, desperately. (I’m an only child. Believe me, I love quiet.) And I do actually get moments of it here and there, if I’m honest with myself.
But often, when I do get it, I don’t know what to do with myself. There are SO MANY DISTRACTIONS available that I let myself flit to and from. I’m a puppy in a yard of squirrels.
We’re uncomfortable with silence. We want to fill it – with thoughts, talk, tasks, scrolling, you name it… We can, and often long to, put something in that space instead of silence.
What do you do with silence when you get it? Are you comfortable in it? Are you able to be truly present? Are you able to tune out all the “noise”? Can you really pause for a few moments? I’m not talking about getting hours of solitude and quiet. Just a few minutes or even moments of silence.
I can go ahead and complain that I don’t have “any” or “enough” quiet in my life, but instead of just hoping and waiting for times of silence to just happen to me, I can make times of silence. And then commit to it. Be present. With myself, with the Lord, with the feel of my toes in my shoes and my feet on the ground…
As we try to pause or take a break in one of the busiest times of the year, pay attention to what you do with your moments of silence. You might be surprised to find that you’re already being truly present or that you’re unintentionally filling them with distractions. Limit or remove one of those from your day, and see what happens!
Wanting to discover how to create more times of silence for yourself? Book your free no-obligation call today and let’s chat about what you find challenging about making more times of intentional quiet – and why it’s important to you right now.
