Listening to Sacred Stillness: The Stillness When All is Said and Done

Recognizing When All is Said and Done

Do we ever really experience life when all is said and done? Many of us appear to have something more to do, and more to say, no matter where we are.

We live our lives saying and doing from the time our alarm wakes us until we fall back into bed exhausted. Only a tiny amount of our lives are lived when all is said and done.

Some of us always seem to have something more to do or say. Our conversations, and our arguments, are ongoing and continuing.

It may be we feel we need to get in the last word. We may believe no work is truly finished until we have done it, or inspected it, ourselves. It may be we do not really trust anyone else to do things as well or as conscientiously as we do.

We may have created the impression among other people we are indispensable.

Eventually we find we are working and talking ourselves into exhaustion. Even if we would like to spend a day resting, we have convinced people they need us.

We have created a situation in which it is impossible to get to when all is said and done.

As we look at the world around us, and our own schedules, we cannot find time to listen to sacred stillness. Our time is filled with talking and doing. There is always something to say and something to do. We never find ourselves at a point where all is said and done.

If there is always more to say and always more to do, how will we find stillness? Will we ever have time to listen to sacred stillness?

How do we discover and protect time to listen to stillness?

Appreciating When All is Said and Done

Very few of the people I know have no time for stillness because other people demand their attention. Almost every person who feels the pressure of saying and doing puts that pressure on themselves.

We are reluctant to believe all is said and done. Our lives appear to be filled with responsibilities and expectations. We do not want to disappoint anyone. There always seems to be something we can add, more to do or more to say.

I can understand. We think of ourselves as insightful, intelligent people who are good sources of advice. I practice, after all, reflection and discernment. What I have to say is probably exactly what someone needs to hear to solve a serious problem.

There was a time when I always had more to do and more to say. I was not certain there ever would be a time when I felt as if all is said and done.

In the midst of all my saying and doing, I ran into the power of listening.

As I have explored listening to sacred stillness, I have begun to discover what it can do.

Now I wait for people to ask me for help and advice. My perpetual fountain of insight has become a pump which now needs to be primed. I am more than willing to let other people have the last word.

Seeing the significance of listening in my own experience inspires me to help other people see it.

It is not my responsibility to give people the benefit of my perspective all the time. People find it much more helpful to make their own mistakes and learn from them.

It is becoming easier for me to appreciate when all is said and done.

The Stillness When All is Said and Done

There is nothing more which needs to be said, nothing which needs to be done. Our work is finished for now. We can stop talking, stop doing, and take time to listen and to rest.

People have told me we are more persuasive after all is said and done. When we stop talking and stop doing we give people the room they need to make up their own minds.

We arrive at a point when there is nothing more to do, nothing more to say. Before we rush past it or even move on to the next thing, we take time to listen to sacred stillness.

It may be a challenge for us to stop and listen, but it is worth it.

There is deep truth, deep wisdom in sacred stillness. The only way we will hear it is by learning to listen.

As we begin to listen, the stillness encourages us to take the time we need.

The beauty of listening to sacred stillness is in understanding we cannot impose our noise on it. The stillness begins when all is said and done.

Whatever we have to say, whatever we have to do, does not limit sacred stillness.

The stillness is what it is and always will be.

When All is Said and Done

The sacred stillness when all is said and done has a great deal to tell us.

There is a limit to how much what we do or say can change the world around us. When all is said and done the best we can do is stop saying and doing.

When we realize all is said and done we begin to listen, to sacred stillness and the people around us. We begin to listen to our deeper selves.

Spending even a few minutes each day listening to sacred stillness reshapes how we see our responsibilities.

We do not need to have the last word, to be indispensable. There are times when the best way to bring out the best in other people, and ourselves, is by listening.

Sacred stillness is all around us, and within us. We cannot hear it until we get to when all is said and done.

Where will we be when all is said and done today?

How do we recognize when all is said and done?

When will we find time to listen to sacred stillness this week?

[Image by kadams54]

Greg Richardson is a spiritual life mentor and leadership coach in Southern California. He is a recovering attorney and university professor, and a lay Oblate with New Camaldoli Hermitage near Big Sur, California. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com, and his email address is [email protected].