Time To Hear




Today I'm anchoring in

QUIET. 

Muting. Listening. Being still. Hushed. Noiseless. Private.

It's a good day for QUIET. The local boat ramp parks are closed so the lake will probably be a bit more QUIET. I took Steve and Cade to the airport at 6am for a nonstop flight (with 18 other people) to Arizona. The house will be QUIET. We had morning rains and cooler skies move in. The environment is at peace and QUIET.

Today I'm resisting the urge - intentionally - to fill the QUIET space. The temptation is to turn on the TV and see the latest data, hear the stats and ponder the opinions. Plug into the uncertainty and peak my irrational - and rational - fears and concerns. During my run, I had the desire to push "play" on one of my favorite podcasts to hear the opinions of the times from another wellness guru. When I finished running, I went to the dock to stretch. My "norm" is to hit "Spotify" for "today's playlist made just for me".

But I didn't.
Because today I'm choosing QUIET.

And now that I am QUIET, I'm questioning when the last time I devoted a day to attempt it. I'm pretty sure, never.

I'm pretty darn good at filling my mental space with lots of external and internal chatter, tasks, goals, "to do's", and commitments. My world is a kaleidoscope of activity, movement and must-do's until, typically, the only QUIET I experience is when I drop into my pillow at night to an immediate (much to Steve's chagrin) slumber. However, now, as all of our worlds have come to a screeching stop, my time has become more of my own (novel idea) and I, like you, are regaining some choices (but you have to first choose to take them ;-)

Dr. Daniel Amen, a neuroscientist and author I follow is an advocate for a healthy brain. In fact, he goes as far as saying that the way we will make an impact in mental health is to start talking about brain health. I'm becoming a believer. If we took care of our brain health like our cardio and muscular health, perhaps some of our "mind symptoms" would improve. But with that being said, let's just focus on the elephant in the room - the stress, uncertainty and anguish that I'm hearing so many colleagues, clients, friends and family  speak of - with grave concern and legitimacy.

QUIET can help an anxious brain. It can create peace, a sense of personal fulfillment. I'm only five hours into QUIET and I've already discovered it has a personality of its own. QUIET is clarifying, fresh, giving, relaxing, present, honest. It would make a darn good friend! And I'm already experiencing, that if used intentionally, like Blue Mind and #waterismedicine, QUIET can give in return and in the same fluid way, fill the voids.

My challenge to all of us is to find some QUIET. Intentionally. Five minutes, ten, sixty - or a day. Go into it open, receptive and curious. It could perhaps be one of the more natural, alternative forms of stress relief in your day. #quietismedicine

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wow! What A Ride!

Image
Today - 25 years Ago. Kona Oct. 2013 May 13, 1989. Yup. The day we were married. River Place Country Club. Only a club and golf course back then. No houses. One road. I think that was one of the last big rainstorms we had, too - aside from last night! Well, actually, one of the last most memorable storms. My dad forgot his bow tie-thingy (not really a bow tie, but a western version of that). He left the country club about an hour prior to the start of the wedding and 30 minutes after the wedding was supposed to start hadn't shown back up. The creeks were rising, the canyons flooding, and large softball size hail was falling from the sky. Dad was late - but not too late to have put one of the super-sized hail balls in the freezer for proof as to why a room full of people were anxiously awaiting his arrival. It was a "turd floater" as we call that kind of storm here in Texas. But right when we decided to go ahead and start the wedding (because everyone was running la
Read more

Living Out Our Choices

Image
My parents are now in their mid-80's. It is so odd for me to think of my parents nearing the last chapters of their lives. To me, my timeless memories of my dad will always be racing me on horseback up canyon walls that had my stirrups dragging the ground and my face buried in my horses main we were at such a steep angle; him pushing me down so I'd have to get back up to win a sprint across the yard with him; building a backstop so he could teach us how to connect with a baseball; and always telling me "If you're not falling, you're not learning." My lifelong mom memories are of her nurturing us and our friends - weekend after weekend, feeding us almost every other hour when we'd come in off the lake "starving"; always making sure the fridge was stocked to host the revolving door of lake friends that would come over; and then when my kids were born, having never-ending energy to be the first one up and over at the house checking in on what th
Read more

A Year of Living Present

Image
 Be Present With Me God does have a sense of humor I'm convinced. There have been many times in my life I lift my chin to the sky and give Him a little wink. "HaHa. You knew what you were doing." He's wise like that, and me, sometimes not so sharp. Like my last name. Present. For years I joked, "...and accounted for." But then mindfulness became a thing and I almost had to say, "uh oh". What excuse do I have? Present. I'm going to stay away from the "being mindful" aspect. Let's keep this simple. A 12-month focus with a personal practice of being in the moment, engaged, committed, connected, immersed. There are many words that describe "it", but doing "it" can be another story.  I find it's purely a habit. We all know there are a gazillion distractions in our day and age: technology, multi-tasking, a fast-paced life, not enough hours in the day - another list that goes on and on. But the habits we navigate
Read more