Silence

“It is better in prayer to have a heart without word than words without a heart”. Mahatma Gandhi

I grew up listening to the different quotes of silence by my parents ,and teachers equally. But, never happened to experience the power of silence by myself not until now. As humans we are desperate to be heard, and I’m no exception to it. I love socializing, networking, and talking. Who doesn’t? Talking about ourselves gives us pleasure. Have you ever observed silently people talking? What encourages some people to talk? Why people love to talk in front of some people only? How people give undivided attention to speaker?

Boom! Something happened last year that changed my life drastically. I met with a small accident, and happen to broke my right hand wrist. I experienced pain, alone time, away from noise, and commotion. Doctor’s advised me to take full rest for three months, and not use right hand much unless it regains full strength. Wow! No writing. No posting on social media. No responding to email. No Twitter. I wondered, what’s going to happen to my PLN. Can they block me? No, much networking; can that lead to isolation. I was terrified of awkward silence. Maybe because I was experiencing it for the very first time. From our childhood we are trained to communicate (e.g., read, write, speak etc.). When do we train our children or get trained by our parents/guardians to feel the power of silence.

I remember, that week was hardest for me, most introspective, soul-wrenching times of my life. And then began a little self-exploration. There was one more hurdle. Even though I didn’t want to talk I still wanted to listen. So, instead of hiding out in my house reading. I forced myself to follow my daily routines, attend school regularly, join networking meetings, and just listened. My number one goal was simply to listen with my entire body. After a week, I began to feel the difference. I felt I began to understand my each student better, and my colleagues better then before as they would talk. Why they loved talking now? I got the answer because I was giving unknowingly undivided attention. I listened them without interrupting. I listened them with intent, and always searched for good. Better and stronger relationships start forming. I could now feel the power of silence, and relate to silence quotes, “The quieter you become the more you are able to hear”. I heard the unsaid, unspoken. Here’s the thing: Being quite helped me listen without interrupting; it also taught me a new way of listening, and building relationships. I realized, silence has nothing to do with refraining from speech; rather it is an internal condition of the soul. It’s golden. Silence helps person cool down, think, rethink, consider, reconsider decisions, mitigate conflicts, and say something kinder. It’s immensely powerful, and empowering tool as you search for good in others. It’s training of our mind to celebrate the success of other persons as it’s own, and brings compassion inside of us to feel the failures of others. It’s peaceful. It’s a state of internal calmness amidst of chaos. Silence to me has the power to lead. Silence then is Leadership.

I never learned anything while I was talking. Larry King