LITMIR.BIZ

      three

      Remembering to Take the Time

      A Lesson from Sister

      I can still hear my seventh grade teacher's voice: “David, go to your place! Be still and pay attention!” She didn't say “Be quiet!” but always “Be still!”, which implies not only a lack of noise but a lack of movement as well, a quietude of the whole person.

      You have long since left the realm of schoolchildren, but these words are just as important—no, more important—because now you can know their real power: Practicing stillness and attention can change your life, especially as your practice gains power and effectiveness.

      Here are a few questions to consider:

      What is your way of being still? In which place are you likely to be when you are still—inside, outside, in a particular room or space? In what posture would you tend to be—sitting, standing, lying down?

      Are you someone for whom being still is particularly difficult or challenging? Could you practice being still while walking?

      When you are indeed still, to what is your attention drawn? How do you think about paying attention? That is, what does it mean to you?

      Armed with this description of what paying attention looks like for you, you won't miss the opportunities to practice it. You will be ready when the moments for stillness come.

       Sit down, be still, and pay attention!

      —Sister Mary Odilo

      Today pick a few moments to sit down, be still, and pay attention.

      Telephones, Beepers, and Clocks

      The most frequent challenge I hear from busy people who want to find peace in their daily lives is that they have goodwill, but they just plain forget to take a few moments for a Stillpoint. At the end of the day they realize they only did one or two, or even none.

      What helps me, and many of the people I speak with, is finding triggers. Look for the triggers in your day—moments, people, situations, times, places, events, goings, comings—that have these traits in common: (i) They are frequent. (2) They are automatic. (3) They are consistent.

      Here is an example: telephones, beepers, and clocks, or—putting a spin on John Donne's words—bells that sound in your environment. When you hear them, you can Stop, take a breath, and remember who you are—every time you hear the phone, the clock, the doorbell, or a beeper.

      Here's one I do. Every time I hear the microwave beeper—a sound I find annoying—I call myself to a momentary breath of relaxation and a recollection of how I'll enjoy whatever is being warmed.

      Here are a few helps to establish an event or a sound as a trigger. Place sticky notes or other signs on things; put things “out of place” to remind you; take a few moments at the beginning of the day and put your Stillpoints in your imagination: When I take a bathroom break, I will stay there for one minute longer, dose my eyes and notice what I am feeling physically in my body or emotionally.