Friday, July 31, 2020
Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves. — Thomas Carlyle
There is great power and wisdom in growing to the point where silence becomes our friend. It is in silence that we best listen, and a great portion of life’s best secrets can only be learned in silence.
Those running from themselves and the hurtful lessons of the past fear silence more than any other reality. The fear is I may hear myself in that silence, and surely the sourness of that word would sicken me. Such people are always lonely—whether alone or surrounded by multitudes.
In reality, if we stand still and be quiet, the word we hear softly spoken in the inner court of our own castle is full of beauty and loveliness. If we listen, we will learn that we are not bad; that we are not disgusting, failure-ridden people; and that we are not powerless. Quite the contrary, there is much that is right and noble about us. Alone or lonely—it is a matter of courting silence or not.
Every day I take more pleasure in my own company.
Hazelden Foundation
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