Finding Silence in the Noise

I've graduated! Two weeks ago 

I had my last appointment with my counselor. 

I've be seeing her for about 6 months. 

Slowly my appointments were 

growing further and further apart. 

Then she told me that I was finished. 

Together we have worked through my anxiety issues. 

Figuring out my triggers through different techniques. 

Noise. 

Both literal and figurative. 

Isn't that a struggle for all of us? 

Noise, the stuff that is so loud that it is distracting us from what is truly important. 

Listening to that quiet voice of our a Heavenly Father.

Family, friendships, encouraging words and uplifting messages.

We are bombarded by the noise of the media. 
The bad news telling us humanity is hopeless. 
The overly edited pictures of celebrities telling us we don't look good enough. 
Our to-do lists, managing expectations (both actual and self-inflicted), 
balancing the demands of our families and running a house. 

For me, it is also the literal noise that gets under my skin. 

I like loud noises when it is okay (according to me) to be loud. 

Blaring a favourite song in the car, a concert and laughter. 

Yelling in the car, the radio and TV on at the same time, 

talking too loudly, tantrums, unnecessary background noise -

I get a headache and I get irritable. 

Some of these things are out of my control. 

It's how I choose to handle them that is in my control. 

I need to learn to filter through the noise and find the silence, 

the peace, that can allow me to roll with it and continue to bring me joy. 

Isn't that something we all need to learn?

Maybe you can handle, or even like, all the literal noise around you. 

I admire that! 

But isn't there a common struggle of filtering 

out all the figurative noise and slow down so that we can 

focus on what's truly worth making noise about? 

The struggle is real. 

As parents of young children, noise is inevitable. 

We are going to have houses cluttered with toys, 

a messy sticky kitchen and a beautiful, 

yelling song of "Let It Go" throughout our home. 

I know that one day when my kids 

are long gone and have babies of their own, 

I will be sitting in the silence and tidy house 

remembering fondly these days. 

I will look back on the mess 

and the loudness of the life I once lead and smile. 

What I need to do now is 

live right here in this noisy life and embrace it. 

Through my couneling, 

I have learned that I am an incredibly visual person. 

I have been told that the level that I can visualize is a gift 

and I need to use it for coping. 

So now, when I visualize filtering out the noise, 

I see myself crouching on a river bank with a gold pan in my hands. 

I am shaking it about, adding the water, 

watching all the sediment fall though the holes of the pan. 

What remains are large gold nuggets. 

On it are the names of my husband and girls. 

There are other names of people that are closest to me 

and labels of what is important to me. 

There is a nugget so large it's impossible to miss - Christ. 

(Photo cred Aneste Photography)

 (Photo cred above and below Michelle Cervo Photography)

Those are the things that remain and everything else falls away.