Silence

 

Silence. It is not really possible if you are alive.

 

Regardless of how little noise is being made outside of your body, even in a “soundproof” room, you will begin to notice the noise within; your breath, your heartbeat, your blood coursing through your veins, the air contacting your ear drums.

 

Life is noisy. The challenge is to balance the noise with quiet, fellowship with solitude, stress with peace, activity with rest. When one of these gets out of balance, our body, or mind, will remind us of the need. When ignored, things can break. When things break it causes a much larger ripple in the pond of your life. Others are affected.

 

The flip side of this is the noise that your life creates. “Make some noise” is a common phrase in our vocabulary. Normally, this is used as an encouragement to live life to the fullest. “Live out loud” is another form of the same thing. This, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. You need to live your life on your terms, in your skin, doing things your way. When you live life in a way that is contrary to your inner self, it also creates conflict. Others become accustomed to the way you live, and grow comfortable with you, getting close to you. 

 

Then, when the scales finally tip, when you can no longer allow the confines, whether self-imposed or constraints placed on you by others, to hold you back from your deepest longings, something breaks. It’s not mental disease or illness. It is simply your inner self breaking out of a shell, like a bird pecking its way out of the container in which it was born, or the full-term baby, tightly squeezed by the uterus, begins the arduous journey through the birth canal to experience a life free of the constraints it had outgrown.

 

When this occurs, those closest to you get affected the most by the ripples which once again reverberate in your life’s pond. Some may even be capsized, but all are affected. Should this keep you from trying to “live out loud” or “make some noise”? I don’t think so. But, be aware that your choices have an effect.

 

Whether in silence or din, whether docile or vigorous, be intentional. Act with purpose. Seek out your dreams. Maximize your potential. Find a way to do life in a way that makes you complete. Find the reason God created you.