‘All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.’ ~Blaise Pascal
Can you sit alone in a room? Just with yourself? Without checking Facebook to see what others are doing? Without flipping on the TV to get some noise?
The psychologist Carl Jung wrote about a patient who was becoming unbearable with tension and busyness. He suggested that the patient try sitting alone in his study every afternoon doing nothing. Just experiencing stillness. After a week, the patient returned and Jung asked how it went. He said that he tried it. He sat for a while. Then he got up and rearranged books on the shelf, shuffled papers, and other busy work. Jung told him the idea was that he was to sit still and just be with himself. “I can’t think of any worse company,” the man protested.
To me there is nothing better to do to start the day than to get a cup of coffee and just sit quietly for a time. My thoughts may wander for a while, then settle down. Sometimes if I have a problem, I’ll just release it mentally, then a solution will present itself out of nowhere–so to speak. Sometimes I just start the day calmer when I know that I’ll be facing people who are not calm and who only serve to agitate my soul. It’s easier to deal with them when you begin the day calm.
Try it. Perhaps read from the Bible first. But don’t think about the passage. Just be still and enjoy the quiet.
Faith Venture 
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