Have you ever had to be in silence for a long length of time?
Would you be comfortable or uncomfortable to be in silence? How long could you do it?
What are you NOT seeing every day because you are moving too fast?

I recently had the pleasure of attending a Leadership Retreat in northern California. On the first day, we were asked to be in silence for 24 hours. Yes, I did say 24 hours! If I had been asked to do this before, it really would’ve been a struggle for me. At this time in my life, I so welcomed it and enjoyed it. I lay in the field and watched the tall grass and flowers blow in the wind. It was like a beautiful dance of colors– purple, pink, gold and green. As I felt the warmth of the sun, I found myself dozing off a couple of times. It was so relaxing. It was a great relief from the fast pace and stress of everyday life. By slowing down, I was able to enjoy all of the beauty and peacefulness in the present.

In the afternoon, I walked into the forest of redwood trees. I was amazed when I saw ‘forget-me-not’ flowers growing everywhere. It was like a blanket of beautiful, tiny light blue flowers covering the ground. As I sat up on a hill looking down at the redwoods, I could hear all of the sounds—the birds, the bugs, the wild turkeys, leaves falling to the ground and the stillness of the woods. The sights and sounds called me to the present.
As the sun set, I sat on a swing by the redwoods. I kept hearing the sounds of the wild turkeys and I couldn’t see where they were. As I looked up into the trees, I saw the turkeys sitting way, way up in the trees. I understand that they sleep up in the trees so that they are safe. I have no idea how they get up there!! I definitely would have missed this discovery if I hadn’t stopped to sit, look, listen and be in the present.

What are you missing in the PRESENT? What if you took the time to sit, look and listen?
What discovery might you make? What moment might you miss that is never coming back?
What would it be like for you to spend 24 hours in silence? Would you embrace it or resist it?

Ways to be in the present:

• Spend 15 minutes in silence in nature. Sit, look and listen. Notice the colors and the sounds around you. Take in all of the beauty. Pick up a flower and look at its details.

• Eat a meal slowly. Look at your food. Enjoy the aroma. Savor the taste in every bite.

• Sit quietly and slow down your mind. As thoughts come into your mind, let them come in and let them pass. Keep calling yourself back to the present moment. Focus on your body and your breathing.

As Eckhart Tolle says in The Power of Now,

“step out of the time dimension as much as possible in everyday life. If you find it hard to enter the Now directly, start by observing the habitual tendency of your mind to want to escape from the Now.”

How can you step out of your time dimension today and enjoy the precious present?

Here’s to living in the present!

Linda Wisler-Luft

Fireball Coaching & Consulting

Columbus, OH

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 10:33 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.