Not super glad I stayed up way too late catching up on DVR TV (I'm sort of addicted to Sons of Anarchy- did you know that show is loosely based on Hamlet? Anyway...).
BUT- I do have some lovely weekend plans and a few things to knock out at work today so I'm looking forward to that!
Last week, I linked up with Lisa-Jo Baker and some others for Five Minute Friday.
The word 'o' the day last this week is: Quiet.
So here goes:
I suck at quiet.
I talk loud. I laugh loud. There is always noise of some sort- music, dog barking/yawning/scratching, laundry, TV, etc- going on around me.
Learning to be in the quiet is a relatively new concept for me.
Just this past year, I started doing all my runs without headphones.
(This mostly occurred out of necessity because I've sweat through 2 Ipods).
Running without sound is a totally different thing. It's just you and your thoughts.
In the beginning, I'd run through what I have to do for the day and what song I most recently heard would spin in my head like a record on repeat.
Then I began to notice how peaceful and quiet the world is early in the morning when I'm out running around my city.
How the sounds of the day are just beginning- garbage trucks, street sweepers, birds chirping.
How when I run along the lake, it's quiet, but at the same time FULL.
I find myself praying now on my runs. Just having a conversation with God about what's been going on in my life, the places where I struggle to abide in him and always seeking his grace and peace.
I don't know how to describe the sound of quiet. Just that when I'm in that place, just me and my breath, my feet striking the ground in a soothing rhythm, I feel close to God. Like if I just open my mind for his voice, I may just hear him.
And done. :)
What do you think of when you hear the word quiet? Are you a naturally quiet person? Or a loud one like me?
Try out 5 minute Friday on your own, then head over to Lisa-Jo Baker's blog and check out what quiet means to others.
Really awesome post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Denise! Loved your prayer for peace and quiet.
DeleteI am in the middle somewhere between loud and quiet. I came from a LOUD family, but I was never like that naturally. It took me a long time to though to appreciate true quiet and now I cherish it...yes, running in the quiet is an awesome way to be with God and hear him! :) Enjoy that!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dionne! I am a little bit of an anamoly- I'm very social, but also have to have my 'quiet' time alone occasionally to decompress- it's a good balance. (my famly is also VERY loud. HA!)
DeleteThanks, for being real, for sharing that sometimes, it's just hard to be quiet, that life is busy, and that we can find our blessings there, too!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to not be real. :) thanks for reading and commenting!
DeleteI can totally feel every footfall on the pavement and the thrum of your heartbeat and breath coming out in the early morning air. I love the quiet you find and the time with Him and you almost make me want to start running. Almost...
ReplyDelete:) It's my relaxing time. Which seems like an oxymoron- but it really isn't. I'm so glad the imagery came across.
DeleteYou are a brave, brave woman to take away music on your run, and I commend you for it! It's hard for me to be present in the moment, I live so much in my head that there is always a running commentary going on, complete with soundtrack. I'm working on the quiet, it's a struggle for me!
ReplyDeleteTaking away music allows that conversation in my head to play out and eventually quiet. Have you ever seen that Nike ad where the person is running and all the words are falling off of them- like they are running their issues off? That's how running is for me. But I agree with you Tammy- quiet IS hard. I've tried meditation and I suck at it. :)
DeleteAh, you're a brave woman to run with quiet! I love solitude and peace, but give me some tunes to get me up the big hills (which all seem to fall on the way home!). But my batteries died on my run yesterday (can you say walkman!!), so I did the quiet run thing. At first I hated it as sleet pelted my face, but then I came to love the one thing I desperately needed without realizing it. Great post!
ReplyDeleteSleet in the face? Yuck. :) But glad you were able to enjoy a little running quiet time too!
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