Life with children is far from being quiet or calm. The stream of noise is endless between loud toys, the sports game on TV, and bickering between siblings. We may endlessly say (or shout), “Can you please keep it down? Can I please have some quiet?”
And yet, the quiet we want is more than just an absence of external sound. We crave internal calm even when things around us seem chaotic or our children’s behavior triggers us. Life can easily make us stressed, angry, and reactive if we do not consciously learn to pause and realign ourselves.
Silence is not just the absence of sound but a state of being.
A still space deep within ourselves that is peaceful and wise.
Imagine you are on a boat amid a stormy sea. You hear the waves thrashing. You see the swells towering. You feel the cold, salty sprays of water on your face. But you close your eyes, take a deep breath, and when you open your eyes again, you find yourself transported onto an island, out of the storm, surrendered by total silence and peacefulness.
For just a few seconds or minutes, you can take the time to settle within yourselves, sitting on the beach on your inner island. You will still be aware of everything around you but are detached enough to have a new perspective on how to respond (or not respond).
It takes practice to avoid getting swept into a storm of emotions and drama throughout the day. But when we do, the little storms reveal themselves as opportunities for growth, making our relationships with our children deeper and stronger.
Like Mother Teresa said:
“We need to find God; he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.”
