The old saying is true: Silence is golden. It is a rare commodity
among moms, not just because of Power Rangers and V-Tech toys,
but because we forget the purpose that silence serves.

Somewhere along the line, we started equating quietness with
emptiness, solitude with loneliness. Ive even had people tell
me silence is frightening.

We are forever supposed to be talking to
people, listening to people, or wishing we could be. A friend of
mine recently announced that, the night before, she sat at a bar,
ordered a lager, and read a book by herself. The moms answered her
with oohs of admiration. She went by herself? She didnt talk to anyone?

In college, every so often I would spend a Friday or Saturday night
home alone. It was the quietest time of my week, when my roommates and
friends were out being loud. The phone was quiet. The house was quiet.
Wonderfully, wonderfully quiet.

When I announced my pregnancy to one of these college roommates, she was
concerned. Wont having a baby cut into your alone time? she asked.

Did it ever.

Thats why my alarm rings at 4 each morning. I get three hours before
the house is filled with the sounds of telemarketers, Sesame Street, Horton
Hears a Who, and toddler temper tantrums. At 4am, all I hear is the hum
of the computer and my own keystrokes.

Not everyone needs three whole hours. Some moms may fill the quota with
a non-interrupted 10-minute shower, or by turning off the television 30
minutes early each evening, or by simply making the creation of personal
quiet time a priority.

We have grown so unaccustomed to the sound of nothing that it sometimes
seems as though it could swallow us up. On those rare occasions when no
one is talking or no one is home, we fill the silence with background noise,
which we have come to feel we need in order to function. We put in a CD or
turn on the TV. Perhaps were afraid well grow accustomed to silence, and
we will learn the power that quiet time can have in our lives.

Silence is a therapeutic punctuation mark in a busy day, a pause made all
the more striking by the usual din of motherhood, and a bit of quietness
in your day will help you appreciate and welcome the noise that will
inevitably follow.

Try weaving a bit of silence into your day. You might just grow to treasure
those moments. Moments to reflect. Think. Contemplate. Pray. Or just stare into
space.

About the author:
Susie Michelle Cortright is the author of More Energy for Moms -
http://www.momscape.com/energy - and founder of two "just for you"
websites: Momscape.com, designed to help busy women find balance,
and BestSelfHelp.com, devoted to helping you find the most effective
personal growth tools.

Visit http://www.momscape.com today and get Susie's course-by-email
"6 Days to Less Stress" free. And visit http://www.bestselfhelp.com
for free self-help classics.