Looking For Calm

Thus we need not shout, but rather speak our truth quietly, and then listen–really listen–to one another.

-Marianne Budde

What does it mean to speak our truth? And when we choose to, which for many can be a major risk, will there be someone there to listen? Will a loved one hear us after a decade long argument that has completely severed the relationship, a dear friend about whom we are concerned, a child who seems incapable or unwilling to make changes to  behavior despite the impact it is having on their self and those around them, or a colleague with whom interactions are strained at best? Will we hear our own truth as we live it out each day? Are we content in our jobs, marriages, relationships and day to day interactions with those in our midst? Do we spend our available time complaining instead of  out seeking answers that might alter the course of our lives? Are we doing enough to really listen? Do we make time to sit and have a conversation with a friend who is struggling, listen without responding to our child who has anxiety, hear the truth of someone we love without offering to try and “fix?” Sometimes the voices are difficult to hear. They may come in the final moments of the day when the lights have been turned out, from the backseat of the car, in a letter, phone call or text or when we are hurrying from one thing to the next. We can  miss them because they are rarely shouted from the rooftops. And when they do come, how do we receive the information? What is our immediate response? Does our response bring the conversation back to our life, challenges and struggles, rather than sitting with the discomfort for a moment or two, in silence that can be deafening and the unknown that is sometimes excruciating?