What does it really mean to be quiet? Not talking, yes. But it is more than that. It’s being in a quiet space. That might be your head space where you can quiet your thoughts, or it might be the physical space where you aren’t distracted by many voices and sounds.
I ran the Chicago Marathon this week, #14 overall. But it was just my second big city marathon, the first being New York City last November. There were supposedly over a million people lining the streets in both of these races cheering people on. And that makes it LOUD LOUD LOUD! So loud in fact that it is hard to hear yourself think. It’s hard to not be distracted by all the sounds, people and sights, which means you really have to work hard to focus if you want to run a certain pace, take your nutrition at a certain time, etc.
While I was running this recent race my mind responded to this outer noise by creating inner noise. My thoughts were scattered, distracted, repetitive, fragmented and unfortunately, way too negative. I fought it, constantly trying to move from the negative thoughts to positive ones but even when I was able to, the negative ones returned after a short respite.
It isn’t just in a crowd that this can happen. It is possible of course that one can think negative and scattered thoughts even on a desert island. But, at least for me, the more outer noise there is the harder it is to hear anything from my own mind with clarity and focus.
My goal is to learn that no matter where I am, the only thing I have control over is myself and my thoughts. After all, even if I am off running a marathon in the redwoods of California, I still might find there is some crazy bird cawing at me, right? The key is to figure out how to be quiet within, no matter what is happening on the outside.
I don’t know how to do that very well…YET. But I do know, just as running a marathon takes a lot of training, so also does running my mind. To be quiet and listen, both to the outside and to the inside, I have to practice it again and again so it becomes a habit I can unleash when needed.
I will let you know when I get there.
Drawing and commentary © 2019 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote is a Zen proverb