Quiet and stillness used to make me uncomfortable. Part of it was me. My energy level has been high all my life and I have to do something with it. Another part was that I felt like if I wasn’t busy, I wasn’t accomplishing anything.

When we get still and dive into our thoughts, we are doing something. Think of it as exercise for our brains. The more we think and consider things from different angles, the more our worldview expands. Seeing situations from a 360 degree perspective opens our minds.

If you have trouble with the quiet and getting still, there is good news! You can learn how. I followed the advice of my psychotherapist when he said to “sit with it.” Sit with the discomfort? “But I don’t want to sit with it,” I said. He said “I know you don’t. Sit with it anyway.” I trust him so I sat with it. Over time, I learned to love the beauty of stillness.

There are other benefits to stillness. I have always been a good listener, but the quiet has deepened my listening. Now I listen with my heart along with my mind. We connect with each other through our minds and our hearts.

Life is busy. Very busy. I encourage you to carve out some time in your day to get quiet. No background noise. Just stillness. The more you practice it, the easier it will become…