Lifestyle Columnist, Amanda Alexander
Today’s Word with Amanda
What does quietness and stillness mean to you? Some interpret those words as meaning peace but that’s inaccurate. Quietness and stillness has nothing to do with peace, (I’ll explain this further in my next article). Quietness according to the Cambridge Dictionary means “the state or quality of having very little or no noise”.¹ While stillness means “total lack of movement or changing of position”². When we have an understanding of what stillness and quietness is, how they work together it will cause us to discern what’s important, focus on that and not sweat the small stuff.
You may be puzzled as to what I’m getting at by stating that there’s beauty in quietness and stillness, hold on let me explain. I had a moment of writer’s block thinking about this week’s article and now I can see why, frankly I wasn’t being quiet and still. Physically, I was in one position on my bed, but internally I had millions of things going on through my mind, so in effect I was full of noise. Being quiet and still means to me that there’s no internal and external noise while remaining motionless. It’s allowing myself to be in the moment without grappling or trying to work out anything, quietness plus stillness equals sheer bliss – I say!
When we place ourselves in a position of quietness and stillness, different types of thoughts rise to the surface. Many times it’s worries over finances, family, employment, and health. When it’s negative thoughts they cause us to feel anxious and hopeless however, when they’re positive we feel excited and hopeful. Quietness and stillness working together causes us to face our fears or faith, push us to make decisions and take necessary steps. In the state of quietness and stillness we also see ourselves and realise what clutter has to be removed from our life.
Noise is a great disturber of quietness and stillness, it robs you of the ability to think with clarity and make wise decisions. For instance you may have experienced being at work and the storm in your personal life is raging so loud that you cannot focus on your work, you then start making mistakes hence you now have an angry boss and feel disappointed. I hope you can see how imperative it is to cultivate into your life some quietness and stillness time. So what can you do to create a lifestyle of quietness and stillness? I use my early morning prayer time to cultivate mine.
Quietness and Stillness Tips:
- To start, find a spot where you can be quiet and be still for 2 minutes, (Time can be extended)
- Write down all the thoughts that come into your mind.
- How do you now feel?
- Do you find you have better clarity?
What you’ll discover will lead you to focus and do what’s important and clear out the clutter!
Until next time, remember you are beautiful and wonderfully made – If you’d like to discuss this you may reach me on https://www.facebook.com/caribbeanhookup/ – With love Amanda x.
Amanda Alexander is the founder of Elect Lady Ministries & Amanda Alexander Productions All rights reserved ©
Disclaimer: Readers are advised that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to CaribDirect Multi-Media Ltd.
¹ https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/quietness
² https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/stillness
