Tag: quiet

The Silence Is Deafening

Back in my younger days, I worked in radio broadcasting. In my office, the radio station was always playing in the background. No matter what we were doing, we always had one ear tuned in. So, even with the radio playing, phones ringing and conversations in the office, you know what the loudest sound was? You guessed it: silence.

If the radio station went off the air, everything stopped.  You had to pay attention to what was wrong. That silence was deafening. I finally understood what this phrase meant.

In today’s world, there’s a lot of noise… a lot! It’s rarely quiet with television, radio, social media, responsibilities from work and home. There doesn’t seem to be much silence.

Noise can be distracting. Recently, a friend of mind was counseling her son, who did not get a job he had applied for. He has applied for several jobs, and this particular one wasn’t his top choice. But he was still disappointed. His mom gave him good advice. She asked him if this was the job he really wanted, and he confirmed that it wasn’t his top choice. Then she reminded him that this was just noise. Yes, he probably was looking for validation by being accepted for a position, even though it wasn’t his first choice. But her advice was right one. It was just noise. He needed to put it aside and keep focused on his future goal.

This makes me wonder how many times I let noise get in the way and distract me from doing what I need to do.

I believe in having quiet time in the morning, where I do a daily devotional, but I know once I get going on my day, I’m really, really good at getting distracted. I fight the noise of procrastination, of worry, and sometimes even laziness.

Last fall, I wrote a post about taking four minutes a day for quiet time. You can read it here. https://talkingamongfriends.com/2019/10/03/do-you-have-four-minutes/.  It’s something I probably need to go back to when the noises get deafening, instead of the quiet. I need to pay attention to what’s most important.

By taking the time to silence the noise, you may not find all the answers. But you might find a little peace, a little less distraction, and perhaps a little more focus. Maybe it’s time to enjoy the deafening silence.

 

Learning to be Silent

Lately I feel like my mouth is running ahead of my brain. There has been more than one occasion where I’ve regretted my words the second they were out of my mouth. Most definitely cases of speaking without thinking. I’m tired of opening my mouth and inserting my foot!

With this awareness, I’m trying to be silent. When I’m with my friends, I’m learning to sit back and just listen.

The other night, I carried this a little bit further. I kept the TV off! Now, I’m a TV watcher. And admittedly, sometimes I have the television on only for company and I’m not really watching it. Previously, when working in the broadcast industry, I got used to the background noise of the radio or TV station constantly on. If we accidentally went off the air, it really was a case of “the silence was deafening.” So, I’m used to noise.

Anyway, the other night, I hadn’t turned on the television, and never bothered to. My husband and I enjoyed the evening reading, and I started a new cross stitch project (now whether I finish that project or the several other projects I’ve started is a blog post for another time!). But you know what? I really enjoyed that evening. I relished in the quiet and really liked the silence.

As a Christian, I’m taught to listen to the still small voice of God. I read in a devotion that to tune into God’s voice, we must tune out this world’s noise. How can we do that if we’re focused on everything else but Him?

I’m not sure I heard God’s voice the other night, but I believe it was good to sit in silence. And if I’m prayerful the way I should be, who knows what God might say!

Have you ever done this – sat in silence? If not, try it! Turn off the TV, turn off the electronics. Just read, or knit or study something.

This is good practice for me to sit in silence with friends as well, and LISTEN. Truly hear what they have to say and not just think about my response. Perhaps if I thought more carefully before I spoke, then my foot would stay out of my mouth!  I’m still learning to be silent, and to grow comfortable with silence. But so far, I think it’s something I need to do more often.

How about you? Do you like quiet? Have you taken time to shut off the electronics? Let me know how it worked for you.