My days are filled with noise. Kids, co-workers, phone notifications, my own noises as I type email after email after email. Have you ever thought about just how noise filled your day is? Think about it the next time you have a moment of silence before the kids hop into the car from school or you finally lay in bed after another long day. Those moments we have come to think about as silent are actually filled with noise. Quiet moments end up with our heads spinning as we think about what we are making for dinner, how stressed we are that the kids are going to be late to soccer practice, that deadline looming over us.
So here is a challenge for you…
…BE STILL. Be still for 20 minutes.
I took this challenge. I thought this would be impossible to do. Heck, it was hard enough to find 20 minutes where I felt I had the capacity to actually be still. The other night, the kids were sleeping and my husband was downstairs watching football. I decided now is my chance! So, I closed my bedroom door and sat on my bed. I set my timer for 20 minutes and I closed my eyes. The first minute involved me being aware of every noise. Was that one of the kids awake? Once I assured myself the room was, in fact, silent, other thoughts then crept in. Should I pray? Meditate? What should I be thinking about? Should I use this still time to plan out my grocery list? After a minute or so of battling those thoughts away, I then became still. Not just silent, but silent and still. And before I knew it, the timer went off. It honestly flew by. For me, it was the minute afterwards that was the best part about this challenge. I realized that I do have the ability to tune out all the chaos of everyday life.
I am now challenging myself to do this again. Maybe next time I will decide to be still in a more focused way through meditation or prayer. My goal will be to filter out all thoughts about the never ending to do list of life. I won’t be still every day but I will be still again at some point this month. And I will cherish those 20 minutes.
Take this challenge! We’d love to hear about your experience.
