Quieting the Noise

I have been reading the book “Essentialism” by Gary McKeown and I found a quote that really caught my attention. He said “And the noisier things get the more we need to build quiet reflection spaces in which we can truly focus.” 

It reminded me of why I created my Soul Chocolate Retreats, for that very purpose of creating space and time dedicated to quiet reflection. 

I find that the world is getting busier and noisier. Not only in the traffic and hustle and bustle outside but with television, streaming services, games on our phones and devices and the internet and social media, we are constantly surrounded by the noise of someone or someone’s business trying to get our attention. 

When I watch a movie or show or follow a creator on Tiktok, the residual effect is that their story or ideas or news swirls around in my head for hours or sometimes days after I have watched it. It is taking up precious space in my head, living rent free and keeping me distracted from appreciating the stillness and beauty of the present moment. 

Sometimes I use the noise and distraction of media to take a break from the responsibilities I carry on a daily basis. But just like others might use a bottle or a pill, when I distract myself like that, the responsibility or worry doesn’t go away, it is still there waiting for me after the entertainment is over. 

I know the real solution to heavy responsibility, challenges or worries is to find moments of quiet where I can contemplate and seek divine guidance on how to make things better, easier or how I can better cope. 

The problem is, if my mind is too full, if it is buzzing and spirling I can’t properly hear what spirit whispers. It makes it hard to listen to guidance.

As I read that quote by Gary McKeoen, I realized that God doesn’t want our minds to be completely full all the time. If our arms are full of stuff, we can’t hold His hand. If our minds are constantly full of noise, we can’t hold our attention on the Divine.

As I thought about this further, I imagined my arms filled with boxes. Boxes that represent everything going on in my head. Big boxes for big responsibilities and worries, and a collection of small boxes for small issues that I fret over and which swirl around in my brain as well. 

The key now becomes as I examine all these boxes:  Can I put them down long enough to hold God’s hand and sit and talk to him?

Hale Dwoskin teaches a technique I learned years ago called the Sedona Method and it comprises three questions, three simple questions. When we look at something we are holding onto, we can ask ourselves, “Could I put this down, even if it is just for a moment, could I put this down?”
“If I could put this down, would I put this down?” and “If so, when?” 

I usually take clients through the process with the example of holding a pen in my hand. Squeezing it tightly until it becomes uncomfortable just like the worries we have feel quite uncomfortable, then we ask ourselves the three questions then we drop the pen. We can do the same thing by letting go of our worries for just a few moments at first.  Then as we practice more we can succeed at putting them down for longer periods. It can be just that simple. 

Putting down the worry boxes long enough to rest our mental and spiritual muscles, feel the relief and receive some help. 

Many times we ask God to help us with our burdens but we never let go of them long enough to actually hand them over to Him. We play tug of war. ”Please take this from me but no I don’t want to actually give it to you.” We become so used to holding it we don’t know how to let go. 

If you are like me, how many times have you tried to pray but you got lost in your thoughts, totally distracted by your own worries or things to do, and have forgotten you were trying to have a conversation with God?

That’s where learning meditation techniques can help. How to let go of the boxes without picking them back up again immediately. How to experience moments of relief from our stress long enough to feel at peace and connected to the Divine. 

In what ways could you benefit from learning to meditate? What is swirling around in your head that you could take a break from? If you would like to learn some more techniques, I would be happy to share them with you. 

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