Embracing Stillness

I’ve had some major life changes lately and it has left me with free time I am not used to having.

While sitting in the stillness was uncomfortable at first, it’s become a blessing and something I’ve begun to anticipate each evening. I enjoy the reset, the calming of my mind and the uninterrupted exploration of ideas and thoughts.

Through this life reset, I’ve picked up reading again. I used to be an avid reader in middle school – a book a week – but I’ve barely picked up a book since, maybe one every few years. In the past two months, I have read seven books, with subjects from missions to fostering to faith, and have enjoyed how much I’ve learned from reading, something for which my brain hasn’t been able to make space for nearly 20 years.

So, I ask you — how many hours per week do you sit alone in stillness?

If it’s under one hour per day, I’d argue it’s not enough. It’s hard to make the time, I get it; this is coming from someone who had every minute of every day accounted for for years until the last two months. I’ve come to realize that while our ever-growing obligations are important, we miss out on the glory of growth that can come when we truly sit still.

Sitting still can be very uncomfortable at first, particularly for extroverts. A whole hour? That’s an eternity. But stillness can look different for everyone. Grab a book, pick up a journal, pull out your Bible, or go on a meditative walk and try it. And, importantly, go somewhere you know you won’t get distracted. I can’t tell you how many days I’ve sat in my car when I get home from work to have stillness before I went in the house and the mental to-do lists started. How many hours I’ve sat in the Adoration Chapel to force the stillness and time of prayer. How I’ve hidden my phone out of my sight, so it doesn’t distract me while I read. Those may sound silly, but I have to put myself in a spot free of distraction to best set myself up for success. To first, focus my mind, and then let it begin to grow.

I urge you to MAKE the time to sit in stillness, because if you try to FIND time, it will never be there. Make that time a priority and you will see a major shift in your life and in your relationships.

“I do not busy myself with great matters, with things too sublime for me. Rather, I have stilled my soul, Like a weaned child to its mother, weaned is my soul. Israel, hope in the Lord, now and forever.” – Psalms‬ ‭131‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭