"... people are trying to manage the noise."

A thought by Touré Roberts in his book, Balance, (p. 17). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

Toure says, "The more I grow in Balance, the more I recognize how noisy life is and is increasingly becoming. ... one of the reasons why self-awareness and mindfulness are such coveted goals is because, among other things, people are trying to manage the noise. It seemingly gets louder than we can manage, because the world’s population is constantly growing while technology is making the world smaller and smaller. Consequently, our lives become more and more crowded. We are increasingly exposed to the life, thoughts, opinions, issues, comments, passions, and preferences of strangers simply by logging on to the internet and our social media accounts, with new platforms vying for our attention every day."

He continues, "As a result, the noise of strangers adds to and amplifies our own noise, and with each day and each log-on the noise is compounded exponentially. There was a time when a person’s noise was limited to what they had going on personally, along with the activities of family and close friends. That has changed drastically. And in many situations, we are no longer called people but are called users, and those who call us users are like pushers, spending billions of dollars on new ways to distract us and draw our attention to the products and services they want us to consume. More noise, louder and louder."

He goes on, "And then you’ve got the good noise: relationships, parenting, business, career, education, community service, and every other virtuous responsibility that makes for a happy and fulfilling life. That’s all good, but guess what? It’s still noise. And let us not forget the dark noise that Night speaks to us all. Those voices, within and without, that echo around us in the absence of light. Those bumps in the night and startling sounds we must overcome."

He then says, "Life is indeed noisy, and often we don’t even realize how noisy until we take the time to be still. To find Balance, you must learn the discipline of regularly muting life’s noise. Tapping into the rhythm of the soul will require a diligent, consistent commitment to stillness. The rhythm of the soul is a faint pulse, but with the right kind of stillness it can be discovered, and when it is, the choreography that orders our steps to Balance reveals itself. As we walk through these pages together, we’re going to find the most effective ways to do just that—to listen to the music of your soul and implement its tempo in the rhythms of your life."

And those noises make it so difficult for us to hear the still small voice of God that is there for us to experience and hear. Yes, yes! #continuethought