Noisy Hearts

I have been reading a lot of books on spirituality lately. I read them a lot when I was single, too. I had just started working in a professional setting. I lived in Houston by myself in my own apartment. I didn't really know that many people. I was working on a challenging assignment with new technology and very little mentoring from the staff. I was far away from family. I had just broken up with my college boyfriend. I got up early, went to work, worked until very late, worked out, came home had dinner and went to bed and then it started all over again.

I felt like I was living in a whirlwind and I needed to find ways to slow it down. My favorite book of that season of my life is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. That book gave me the framework I needed to sort out all the changes that were going on in my life and put things back in perspective.

Now that I am a parent and have three kids and their activities to deal with, I feel, once again, that I am living in a whirlwind. Thankfully, Isabella goes to school two days a week, and that gives me time to slow down a bit, but the rest of the time, it feels like I am shuttling children from activity to activity, or going from one volunteer or school activity to another.

I have also wanted to find a way for my kids to not feel this whirlwind. What can we teach them to help them deal with our fast-paced life? I started looking for another book that would help me put things in perspective and help me teach the kids how to slow down. I search the library and the internet and I found two(!):

Nurturing Silence in a Noisy Heart is outstanding. The author claims that in a digital world, we have lost our privacy. No matter where you are, you can be reached via your cell phone. We no longer seem to give ourselves time to just be. This is especially true for our children once they start school, he claims. Even outdoor time is structured: soccer practice, baseball practice, etc. Parents trying to make memories pack activity after activity on weekends: bowling, movies, etc., but when do kids have a chance to just be? His book gives wonderful ideas for adults to slow down and smell the roses. For instance, he says get up before the whole family does and just sit in a dark room gathering your thoughts or go for an early morning walk by yourself. He recommends one make a list of things that nourish our soul and keep a record of how often we do those things in a week. After a week, examine how often you engaged in an activity on your list. Are you doing the things that are important to you or are you just going through the motions you know will get you through the day? I love all the questions he poses.

Habits of a Child's Heart: Raising your kids with the spiritual discipline is totally worth owning, as well. The authors base this book on Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline. They lay out the 12 principles that are important to help one make the most of our spiritual life: meditation, prayer, fasting (not just from food, but from TV and video games, too), study, confession, worship, guidance (how to be a good friend and learn to make good friends), celebration, simplicity, solitude, submission, and service. They explain what each principle is, how a parent can learn to use this principle, and offer specific ideas and suggestions for teaching them to children of all ages. I know Foster's book is based on Quaker and Roman Catholic thought and therefore, considered controversial by some religious groups, but Habits of a Child's Heart really spoke to me and gave me the framework I was looking for. It's almost like a summary of the important suggestions you read about in other spiritual books. You know how it is when you start seeing the same thing in all the books you're reading? You feel like you are getting closer to seeing the light. I love it!