As Year 2011 Comes to an End ...be STILL and find the peace

As 2011 comes to an end, I just needed some time to be alone to reflect in quietness on the key things that happened over the last 12 months in my life. We are surrounded by information overload that sometimes it is just good to be still and let silence speaks.

In this connected world, we are all the time engaged in something and and in constant motion even though our bodies are not moving. Our minds are always in attention and we rush around, talking, emailing, tweeting, sending and reading messages, clicking from browser tab to the next, one link to the next.

We are always on, always connected, always thinking, always talking. There is no time for stillness — and sitting in front of a frenetic computer all day, and then in front of the hyperactive television, doesn’t count as stillness. Let's stop all the action, sit back and just be still ... Then you can ...


Feel your breadth.
Listen to the stillness.
Enjoy the air around you.
Be at peace with yourself.
Appreciate your good health.
Be thankful for your senses.
Rejoice in your loving relationships.
Think of your loved ones.
Linger in the presence of God.
Give thanks !


It is not wise to dash about.
Shortening the breath causes much stress.
Use too much energy, and
You will soon be exhausted.
That is not the Natural Way.
Whatever works against this Way
Will not last long.
         by Tao Te Ching


I just read this New York Times article "The Joy of Quiet" and I am very inspired by it. Here are a few quotes from the author Pico Iyer.

The urgency of slowing down — to find the time and space to think — is nothing new, of course, and wiser souls have always reminded us that the more attention we pay to the moment, the less time and energy we have to place it in some larger context. “Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for our miseries,” the French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote in the 17th century, “and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.” He also famously remarked that all of man’s problems come from his inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

 MAYBE that’s why more and more people I know, even if they have no religious commitment, seem to be turning to yoga, or meditation, or tai chi; these aren’t New Age fads so much as ways to connect with what could be called the wisdom of old age. Two journalist friends of mine observe an “Internet sabbath” every week, turning off their online connections from Friday night to Monday morning, so as to try to revive those ancient customs known as family meals and conversation. Finding myself at breakfast with a group of lawyers in Oxford four months ago, I noticed that all their talk was of sailing — or riding or bridge: anything that would allow them to get out of radio contact for a few hours.

Here's wishing all a very joyful and meaningful New Year !!

God bless ...