Friday, July 29, 2011

still

the other day i tried to sit in complete, distraction-fee silence for 10 minutes. have you ever tried that? i thought i was going to sit in silence and get all these wonderful revelations from God that would spark my energy for the day.

what i got instead was all the millions of thoughts swarming around in my brain. quieting those voices is a task not easily maneuvered. sometimes we are our own worst enemy i suppose. here i thought i had eliminated the distractions, but there is one i can't ever eliminate- myself.

sometimes the biggest challenge we face each day isn't from those around us. it isn't our mounting to-do list or the endless pile of dishes. it's our own insecurities, doubts and pressures that we put on ourselves to be "just right" or to do things the way so-and-so would.

i suppose the ultimate challenge is letting go of the expectations we place on ourselves and letting ourselves just be still.

i realize that sitting in silence and not getting distracted by your own wandering thoughts is a discipline that needs to be practiced. and i hope to continue to work on it. in fact, i'm gonna go do that right now.

let's hope i don't get distracted by the dishes.

have a great weekend.

 


linking up with (in)courage for five minute friday.

8 comments:

Hailey @ Me and My Boys said...

I'm dreaming of sitting for 10 minutes alone in silence right now. lol. I'm going to go out in a little while, completely baby/husband-less, so I think I'll do this. Just sit in the car in silence for 10 minutes. Sounds therapeutic. :)

(and yeah, isn't it funny how hard it is to silence our thoughts??)

Rachel said...

I love this. I often forget that God usually works in the stillness and quiet of my heart...it's so hard to just be sometimes. There's always something else pulling at my attention. Thanks for this reminder, sweet girl! I needed to hear this. Happy weekend!

Laura and Ryan said...

Wow, this convicted me girl! I cannot sit in silence. I think it's all the technology around us. There isn't even time to get bored much less try to be silent!

Hope all is well with you!

Mary Jo said...

I find it amazing that when I sit in complete silence, it seems the silence makes a buzzing noise in my head. . . hahaha

Have a great weekend!

Nicole said...

it is SO hard to clear your brain of everything. i would love to be able to do it more often, however LIFE always seems to get in the way.

i should practice this more often...

Gina said...

At the end of yoga, we have a savasana, which is 5-10 minutes of silent relaxation. Honest to goodness, it's the hardest part of the class for me.

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

I can't shut down either sitting like that. I always think of the 1,000 things I need to be doing.

Ruth Witmer said...

It finally happens when you get older because you can't remember anything! lol