Stop, Listen, Breathe....

First off, I loved the oil class today. I learned so much and my love grew even more for the oils. I can't wait to order some more tomorrow. The word on the street is that the Spice of Life will be in tomorrow so I will try to order some extra. Let me know if you want some. If you get them from me, they will run $35.00. If you order them online, you will add on about $13 for shipping and tax. They will be out of stock quickly so order up. I am putting together a night class for the oils, tentatively 11/20 at 7pm. Also, for those of you wanting to dive into this, they have a great book that lists your ailments and what oils you need. This is my oil bible. They have a new shipment available for those of you at the class and wanted to buy one. More info to come on oils. Now on to tonight's topic: Stop, Listen, Breathe.....

I watch as my oldest sits at the table doing his homework, connected at all times to the cell phone ,interrupted every few minutes with the buzzing of a new text message. He is always at the phones beck and call. The I Pod is in his ear, always a sound in his head. I get in the car,quickly tune into Rush and Hannity, my stress level rises as I stress about our countries future. I go to they gym, quickly plug into the radio or TV filling my head with more noise and unbeneficial info. My phone rings, I run from hear to there, listen to children's complaints, get on the Internet, stuff my brain with too much info, etc.... So goes the day. I wonder, now with everything always at our fingertips, do we ever stop to just listen? Are we ever just still and think? Are we so filled with noise in our lives that we don't leave time for thoughts and inspiration? Do you remember the days before cell phones when the times that you left the house no one could call you? You were alone, no interruptions. You had time to think. The time before the internet when you didn't spend your time blogging or surfing. The time before I pods when you went for a run you were only left to your thoughts. My concern is that we are so filled with other peoples' thoughts that we don't think for ourselves. I have been pondering this idea and turned it off for a day. No noise in the car. No noise at the gym. No noise on my walk. I just listened. I thought. I enjoyed it. I thought about how much I love my family. How much I am blessed. What wonderful friends I have and how much I have learned in my life. I felt relaxed. My head was clear. I felt free.

I am grateful for the internet and cell phones. I can tap into such great information at my fingertips desires. I can call my children on my cell phone when I am not home to see how they are. Technology is wonderful. But, we need to be silent. We need to let our brains rest and let us be inspired. Inspiration does not come to those minds who are too busy to receive it. I remember an experience some years back as I was going about my daily chores, hurrying as usual to get them all done before I needed to leave for the day. I was hauling laundry furiously back and forth from the laundry room to the bedrooms. My little one year old was crying. I kept repeating, "one minute, let me finish." I was on a sprint, folding, dusting, wiping. I didn't want to stop. He was still crying. I didn't stop. He was finally silent. I kept going. Then, as I was still in my sprint with laundry in my hand, a voice almost audible said "stop!" I did. I was inspired. Go check on your baby! I listened. I found him. He was silent. He was blue. He wasn't breathing. I was too busy to check on him before. I gave him CPR and he started to breathe. I was so intent on getting the master list done. On working constantly, on always staying busy and "noisy" that I didn't listen until I was practically yelled at. Until it was almost too late.

So, I think... what are we missing by being so filled with noise in our lives? Whether it be noise from radios, cell phones, computers....noise from our busy lives and constant, unrelenting agendas. Always in a rat race to get things done and use every minute in our days if not more. We need to "Stop!" We need to just listen. We need to be inspired. Meditation works miracles to stress levels. We can become renewed. Ready for what comes our way. We can dump info that crowds our head before we fill it with more. Even the Lord took a day of rest after he created the world. We so need to give ourselves a rest. Turn off the radio. The election is over. Go for a run without the i pod. Turn off the cell phone for an hour. Just listen. Think. See what comes to YOUR mind before someone Else's voice blurts in. My two cents for the day.