Silence. Embrace it before it screams.
Calgary, Alberta
Silence.
It's the absence of sound.
It's a need. It’s something to love. It’s something to hate.
A healthy life requires us to refresh our inner person with moments of quiet. This can be difficult at times. The need for silence can be ignored, but not forever. It takes skill to train ourselves to instill quiet into our busy lives. As we do this, we prepare ourselves for those times when silence seems to just suddenly be upon us.
You know that kind of silence I’m talking about. It’s that complete utter silence that is just so… deafening. That is when silence can blindside us with a deafening sound that can rock our world.
I recently experienced a season of buzzing activity that was very much beyond my control. It was exciting, adventurous, overwhelming and sometimes, just downright maddening. I was stretched by several opportunities. It was truly a time of learning and growing. As the weeks turned into months, I acclimatized to the sound and the speed. There was no time for quiet and renewal. As the pace and the noise level increased, I was often left with sorting through other’s opinions and ideas. It seemed everyone had something to say to me and I to them. The buzz was constant. The chatter was relentless.
One day, without warning, came the almost alien sound of silence. It sounded odd at first, even somewhat confusing. Then, it began to sound like a scream! I wanted it to go away. I needed the silence to be filled. I needed the buzz. The chatter. Where did it all go? It was then that I realized that I was faced with a choice. I could embrace the silence for the moments it was in my life, or I could choose to erase it with other sounds.As I began to reflect, I realized I had learned several key lessons in the time of silence.A busy schedule should never be a deterrent to incorporating silence into life.
The busier you are, the more likely you need times of quiet.
Silence can be empowering when you are the one orchestrating it. It's important for you to manage the pace and volume of your life. People will be quick to fill your days with whatever they think you need. Take the time to show them that you already know where and when you need to take the time to be still and quiet.
Silence can be very difficult to handle when it is sudden and beyond your control. If your fast paced life comes to a grinding halt and you haven’t managed to keep a healthy balance of times alone, you can be left reeling. It can take significant effort to get yourself back to a healthy balance.
Most of us experience fast-paced, frantic and noisy lives. In the long run, it's not sustainable. We know that. It sometimes makes us go faster. Even in those times, we need to slow down and discover the quiet. When we do that we can manage the sound of silence.If we neglect to orchestrate silence into our lives, will sound like a scream it.
We deserve to instil quiet into our schedules for ourselves as well as for those we love.Silence can be enjoyable .... when it is not a screaming sound. Embrace it!