Enjoy the Silence

It has been a roller coaster to say the least. 2010 has barely gotten off the ground and we have already seen triple digit gains and losses in the markets, natural disasters overseas, embroiled battles between the left and right and an overwhelming amount of advice on how to cope coming from every direction.

I sat in on a conference call the other day and the gentleman on the other line made a very perceptive statement. He said, “There is so much noise out there right now, I don't know what to do with it all.” Maybe it’s time to turn the volume down—way down—on it all.

When I say “turn down the volume,” I mean that symbolically but I also mean it in the most literal sense. Absolute quiet is something that many of us never actively seek out. In fact, some are so uncomfortable with silence that they actively seek out the noise. Whether it be the pound, pound, pound of a bassy pop song at the local coffee shop or the swirling sounds of cars whizzing past, true silence is not easy to come by.

But once it has been found, the voice that is your true voice can be heard, your creativity can be unleashed and solutions to your quandaries can be found.

For me, I have noticed that even 10 minutes of true silence is a tough exercise. Because after all that exterior noise is weeded out, all the interior noise tries to take over. But once the art of truly “being” with oneself has been mastered, all the “sales-advise-self-help-on-how-to-be-a-better-you-in-life-and-business” will no longer be necessary; all those tools and self confidence to make the right choices are right there waiting for us, outside the noise.

Nichole Stella
Editorial Director
nstella@napco.com