By Kathy Joy
Twittering birds and peeping peepers are the loudest consistent noises I hear as I am carrying boxes to my car. My mind goes to the quietness of my friends and family during this season. I walk my new puppy at my new house and I continue in the silence of springtime.
Good and bad things happen during quiet moments.
Everyday things happen in contemplative silences.
Quiet people are often a stabilizing influence in a world jangling with noise.
A Spanish proverb says it like this:
abre la boca solo si lo que vas a decir es más hermoso que el silencio
Silence helps us understand ourselves. We can be fully present and connect with others. When we are stuck or confused, silence brings us little epiphanies. Silence can be a life–long friend. But we need to pay attention to it. For some of us, solitude is water to a parched soul; we must have it. For others, solitude is too deep, too sad, too isolating. But it can be a shared place for hunkering down and listening.
Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in us, not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of acceptance of someone as they are. We are all hungry for this other silence.”– RACHEL NAOMI REMEN, AUTHOR
Here’s what happens during just one minute while you remain quiet:
- 255 babies will be born
- Your Heart will pump 83 Gallons Of Blood
- A hummingbird will flap its wings 4,000 times
- A single woman will move all her earthly belongings heavy, precious, difficult to look through, to another home, alone
- 31,600 tons of water will flow over Niagara Falls
- 1,800 stars will explode
- A widow will be laying in a clinic, will be waiting for a doctor’s report and advice, will be looking at her bare toes and a pile of clothes
- 4,500 McDonald’s burgers will be eaten
- UPS will deliver 11,319 packages
- 243,000 photos will be uploaded to Facebook
- Americans will Eat 21,000Slices of Pizza
- 4,310 people will visit Amazon
- Twitter users will send 347,222 tweets
- Uber passengers will take 694 rides**
**Research from Pawan Patar www.https://artplusmarketing.com/
If this much happens inside the space of 60–seconds, then maybe you can take a little break. It’s pretty obvious the world will keep churning if you step away from it. Take a pause for you.
- Notice your own breathing.
- Consider the hummingbird, who flaps and grabs the nectar.
- Lift your hands in prayer to God.
- Expect change in this moment and into the next.
- Be the change for someone else…quietly.
We, too, can join that dance.
We, too, can taste the wonder and the sweetness and come back for more.
We, too, can rest a minute and enjoy the quiet.
