Listen. I mean really listen. Turn off the music. Just sit and listen for a few moments. What do you hear? Water dripping. Children playing? The whisper of an overhead fan? Distant traffic? The wind in the trees? A weed trimmer next door? What were you thinking just now? When you focused on the silence, did you hear your own thoughts?
I have a neighbor, Marty, who’s exactly my age. Marty comes over to chew the fat now and then, and we get into some deep conversations. The government has mosquito-size nanobots that spy on us. Batteries are too heavy, so the nanobots are powered by cold fusion. Aliens have already come to earth and live among us. They’ve given the government cloaking technology. There’s a demo on YouTube™ of a soldier leaning against a tank and becoming invisible!
I know that cold fusion isn’t likely to produce enough net energy to power a robotic mosquito. I don’t like everything Marty says, but I like Marty. I listen carefully to what he has to say. I challenge him. I debate him. I raise issues. I make it a point never to demean him. Marty comes over a lot to talk to me because I accept him for who he is.
Is it a waste of time for me to talk to Marty? Nope. He presents ideas in ways I’ve not thought of. More importantly, the time I take to listen to Marty and engage him makes Marty happy and self-confident. I can see that in his eyes and in his smile. Nope. Listening to another person is never a waste of time.
Even in blog comments.
How about you? Do you make time to listen to the quiet? Do you take time to listen to your own thoughts? Do you hear that still small voice from 1 Judges 19? When your spouse or a friend talks, are you: Judging? Solving the problem? Thinking what to say next?
Discuss
Wheat & Tares 
In law school something that really impressed me was the way Carl Hawkins really listened. Sometimes I have to catch myself and do that. Thanks for the reminder.
I do think I need to listen more, but my attention is a limited resource. I have to make judgments on what and who is worth listening to.
@Stephen
Covey’s remark really stuck in my mind: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
” the Lord was with me but [I] could find none that would believe the hevnly vision nevertheless I pondered these things in my heart”
Apparently Joseph Smith had trouble getting people to listen to his crazy talk about his vision.
Maybe we should listen more and not be so quick to dismiss others.
I love what Eckhart Tolle has to say about the voice you hear in your head being ego, and you are really the one listening to that voice. You are not that script.
@hawkgrrrl
I never heard of Tolle, but it’s amazing he’s able to answer those questions on the spot with such competency. Interesting that his last name is the German word “amazing”. 🙂
I will have to try that first technique to quiet my mind at night. I have that problem of the “racing mind” as well. Particularly when it’s quiet and there’s nothing for me to latch on to.
The second answer regarding the creation of “distance” from bad memories and guilt is very good as well. I think that also would work for chronic worriers who see potential problems everywhere.
He shares a lot of good things. The only other thing I’d add is coming to understand why those racing or negative thoughts are happening in the first place. Just like learning to understand the experiences and thought processes of another person. A therapist I know hates when people describe thoughts and emotions as “not real.” She’d say they are very real and need to be recognized and understood before they can be resolved.
@Mary Ann
It might just be ADD. 🙂 My brain is just wired to be hyperactive. I kinda like it that way…. except at bed time.
E.A.
Tolle has been through ego death which explains a lot of what he talks about.
I’ll have to look up ego death. My own ego is very much alive and, according to my wife, is too big for its britches.
Eckhart Tolle – Death Of EGO
E.A. – yeah, that’s the fun of mental health disorders. Being mindful of what is happening in your head becomes a bit more important, even if all you can do is roll your eyes and brace yourself for what’s coming down the track. 😉
You might want to try this using stereo headphones or earbuds: EMDR plus Bilateral Sound for racing thoughts
@Howard
Interesting. I do use a sound machine at night and it works very well. Even white noise from a fan helps.
EMDR is thought to mimic Rapid Eye Movement and believed to be useful in resolving trauma. In this case it is being used to distract a busy mind into relaxation. Try it, hold your head somewhat steady as your eyes follow the round light. You may find it more effective than the sound machine. Enjoy!
EA, Howard, my son likes the Chromadoze app on his phone, which allows you to adjust the white noise spectrum to leave just the soothing frequencies. He says he listens to pink noise to sleep.