MKE WEEK 22 – The Silence

This week we were challenged to devote a full three days to silence!  Wow, that is a challenge!  This means no phone, text, computer, TV, radio and so on.  So, being a keener student, I looked at my calendar.  There is no way to fit in one day, let alone 3 in the near future.  Yes, I know that is ego talking, but I have commitments!

But I did see an opening on Thursday morning.  So I blocked off about 3 hours before I had to leave for work at noon.  My husband was at work, so all was quiet in the house.  Here’s what I did:

First, I turned off all the notification alarms that go to my watch (I am done with those anyway, just annoying, seldom anything important – just other people’s urgency, not mine).  Then I went for a walk – no headphones, no music or spoken word in my ears.  So I got to listen to nature (and cars).  Birds singing, the crunch of snow under my boots, the sounds of the city.  And I didn’t think of anything in particular, it was lovely.

After coming home I showered and fixed a snack (silently), then sat down for an extended sit (about 2 hours).  Now, I am faithful to the 15 minute sit every morning, I love it, and sometimes I extend that up to an extra 15 minutes – but TWO HOURS?!?!  I don’t know the last time I sat for 2 hours without something to do.  It was interesting – partly wonderful, partly boring, partly impatient, partly enlightening.

Thursday is the day to read the Press Release and visit with a friend in my mind.  So that’s what I did (silently of course).  This was the best, most realistic visit with my friend that I have had yet.  At one point, after I told my friend how I was so happy to have achieved all these wonderful goals – she reached over the table, held my hands and said “Honey, you need some new goals!”  It was such a real moment, something that she would for sure say but I did not see coming!  So, note to self – as I achieve my goals, make sure I set some new ones.

And for the rest of the time, I just sat, relaxed, tried to keep my monkey mind away and kept doing my “mental housecleaning” – no more epiphanies, but it was a good experience.  Then I had to get ready for work.

I do hope to make a longer silent retreat at some point, as I can see that it would become progressively more powerful as time goes on.  Perhaps I can fit in at least one more short session soon, and a longer one later on.

In other news, we have a new chapter in “The Greatest Salesman.”  It seems we have cycled back to the Mental Diet.  That is a good thing, as I find I do not focus on that quite as well as I was doing.

Today I will be master of my emotions…

Weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions; strong is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts…

I am prepared to control whatever personality awakes in me each day.  I will master my moods through positive action and when I master my moods I will control my destiny.  Og Mandino

And Lesson 22 of the Master Key is right in line:

22.2  Let us remember that every thought produces an impression on the mind; every impression is a seed which will sink into the subconscious and form a tendency; the tendency will be to attract other similar thoughts and before we know it we shall have a crop which must be harvested.  Charles Haanel

And one bit of humour – if you are a parent, you will probably understand this.

Love to you all!