When No One Says Anything at All
Twigs snap, a blur rushes over a fallen log and past a group of trees. Up above in the sky a few eagles congregate, green hands extend into the blue. Thomp thomp goes the blur traipsing through dead prairie grass. Finally the blur stops at the riverside. The blur is me, and I stand on the edge of the bank with the wind combing through my hair just like I like it to. I look the river up and down once, and then plop down on the golden grass. Limbs and hair get tangled in the ground, and its like the woods are begging to hold me captive just for a moment. Everything is calm. Nothing hurries. Nothing is worried, nothing speaks. Slowly I can feel my heart slowing down, my body relaxes. I'm there, sprawled out on the grass, and I seem to be the only thing speaking and clamoring loudly in my mind and heart. Everything around me is still, and seemingly silent. So I'll lay there a while, and let the hands of the forest slow the clock and calm my soul.
Lately I've been livin' life noticing some things about myself. I've noticed a twinge of dissatisfaction creeping into my heart. I want to share why, and what it's taught me and hopefully some of you can relate and benefit from this.
Here's where my dissatisfaction is coming from...
I give a gift, no one says thank you. I give my time and money, no one acknowledges or shows gratitude. I say I love you, no one answers back or returns my love. Someone talks badly about my family to my face in a group of people, no one stands up for me. I find myself so frustrated when I feel like people should be saying something...but there's silence. I feel like maybe I deserve something from these people, they owe me or they should be standing up for me or expressing their love. Someone should be talking, saying something! But there's nothing. What happens when no one says anything at all? How do I react to that? Should I be mad? Should I feel like I'm being taken advantage of? Should I feel emptiness?
What if the silence is the real beauty, the real return the real "thanks". What if a kind gesture given out of true love and not appreciated is more beautiful than a kind gesture given out of a heart that's giving only to want something in return. What if the silence is actually speaking so much louder than what I want and expect to hear.
When I'm laying on the riverbank in the grass I just hear calm-nothing is loud, and nothing is speaking. My loud heart just wants to hear something. I just want to be given something for everything I do, I just want someone to acknowledge all my hard work, I want someone to speak up for me, I want that person to tell me they love me too. Everything I want, all these desires-this is natural! But I think theres something greater to be earned in being still like the forest and spreading love and being kind and feeling satisfied when nothing is given in return. And this is what I want. When I can be at peace in my heart like the forest and know that I am acting out of love and kindness and doing the right thing-that surpasses anything that isn't being said or returned to me.
So now we are faced with the challenge... Will we do the right thing out of a pure heart and not care about what we want in return or what we want someone to say? Or will we go on feeling this dissatisfaction in our hearts when no one says anything at all?
Lately I've been livin' life noticing some things about myself. I've noticed a twinge of dissatisfaction creeping into my heart. I want to share why, and what it's taught me and hopefully some of you can relate and benefit from this.
Here's where my dissatisfaction is coming from...
I give a gift, no one says thank you. I give my time and money, no one acknowledges or shows gratitude. I say I love you, no one answers back or returns my love. Someone talks badly about my family to my face in a group of people, no one stands up for me. I find myself so frustrated when I feel like people should be saying something...but there's silence. I feel like maybe I deserve something from these people, they owe me or they should be standing up for me or expressing their love. Someone should be talking, saying something! But there's nothing. What happens when no one says anything at all? How do I react to that? Should I be mad? Should I feel like I'm being taken advantage of? Should I feel emptiness?
What if the silence is the real beauty, the real return the real "thanks". What if a kind gesture given out of true love and not appreciated is more beautiful than a kind gesture given out of a heart that's giving only to want something in return. What if the silence is actually speaking so much louder than what I want and expect to hear.
When I'm laying on the riverbank in the grass I just hear calm-nothing is loud, and nothing is speaking. My loud heart just wants to hear something. I just want to be given something for everything I do, I just want someone to acknowledge all my hard work, I want someone to speak up for me, I want that person to tell me they love me too. Everything I want, all these desires-this is natural! But I think theres something greater to be earned in being still like the forest and spreading love and being kind and feeling satisfied when nothing is given in return. And this is what I want. When I can be at peace in my heart like the forest and know that I am acting out of love and kindness and doing the right thing-that surpasses anything that isn't being said or returned to me.
So now we are faced with the challenge... Will we do the right thing out of a pure heart and not care about what we want in return or what we want someone to say? Or will we go on feeling this dissatisfaction in our hearts when no one says anything at all?
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