I took a trip to the beach in hopes to unwind and relieve some stresses that had built up over time with a fast paced life. I was fortunate to find a hotel right by the beach with a park and a nearby pier. I walked down to the park area, found myself a spot to sit under some trees for shade and began writing in my journal. While I was sitting there I could hear the sound of the waves crashing against the beach from time to time. I love hearing that sound, as it’s rather relaxing to me. There was a gentle breeze coming off of the ocean and you could feel and smell the salty air around you. The temperature was a comfortable 74 and I was beginning to feel the stress melt away.
As I was sitting there and attempting to write in my journal I began to notice all the noises of life around me. This beach being near a pier had many people coming to fish in the early hours of the morning. There was a lot of movement as these individuals were going from the nearby parking lot to the pier. There were birds all around me in the grass trying to find seeds to eat making their cooing and chirping sounds. A woman at a nearby table was on the phone speaking quite loudly at the person on the other end. A few kids were laughing as they were being pushed on a nearby swing. A few children were screaming because a parent had said no. Planes were flying overhead from an airport that was also close by. A helicopter maneuvered down the length of the beach. A bulldozer was pushing sand to sure up the brim that was made on this particular beach area. The occasional siren from emergency vehicles whizzed down the street behind me. The sound of people talking was everywhere, fishermen, surfers, joggers, children, bikers and more.
It was extremely hard to drown out all of these noises so I could focus on the waves and my writing. Then it dawned on me that is what my life had become at home and what I was attempting to get away from even if only for a few days. The noises of life can drown out your thoughts and focus and make it nearly impossible to feel you are making any headway when it comes to meeting certain goals or pressing forward with things of importance to you.
You need to be able to focus on your current task at hand and drown out all the noise. That’s sometimes simpler to talk about doing than it is to actually do. Here are a few tips to help you drown out the noises of life.
- Make time each day to write out your list of things to do that’s important to your goals. Keep it short. The trick is to put things on your list you know you can get accomplished in that day. It helps you to have a sense of accomplishment and keeps you focused. It also shows you the next tasks you need to take care of towards goals and help you plan your day accordingly.
- Make time each day to meditate or pray depending on your beliefs. Spend at least 20 minutes taking some deep breaths, focusing your thoughts, and sharing your worries with God. Do this first thing in the morning. It always helps with knowing what is ahead and what you need to do first. If it’s challenging then you have prepared yourself for it before you have to tackle it.
- Make time to get inspired or recharged at least a couple times a week. Those noises of life can be overwhelming and the best way to make sure you can go on is to take some time to do something you enjoy, that inspires you or gives you a recharge. It doesn’t have to be more than 30 minutes but it’s important to incorporate that into your life to help with the stress and noise. Read a book, listen to music, take a walk or even go see a movie. The point is to do what you enjoy and that will help you feel recharged.
- Book yourself as a client. If you don’t make yourself a priority then who will? Make time in your busy life to schedule yourself in your calendar and day for your own goals. Create time in your calendar for you in the week to keep you motivated and inspired. Schedule in your calendar time to work on your own goals that are important to you so you are always moving forward to reach them.
- Make time for exercise. Stress is not a joke when it comes to making people ill so it is always best to find ways to deal with that stress. Exercise is a great way to eliminate stress from your body. Take a walk, go swimming, and go biking, take an aerobics class, walk a mall depending on the weather in your area or whatever you choose to do to get some exercise that can help relieve some of your stresses.
- Alter your environment. Put things around you that are inspirational when you are working on that goal. Play music, have posters of places you want to go or have gone, pictures of those you love, objects or knick knacks that inspire you, candles to relax you, quotes or affirmations that can keep you focused and so much more. Use your imagination as to what will help you in your environment feel inspired and focused.
- Get into a routine. Typically if you work a job you know when you have to be at work, when lunch break or other breaks are and when you get to go home. Then we head home and try to cram in a ton of things before we attempt to rest. Developing a routine will provide time before you leave for work to get a few things accomplished. You will have your plan in place with a few tasks to complete when you arrive home, keeping you focused and getting more done before bedtime. This helps drown out the noise of life by knowing what you are doing and when.
- Learn to say no. We all want to help our family and friends, plus clubs or organizations you may frequent. The question is do you have time to do what is being asked of you plus keep time for your goals? Sometimes, you have to learn to say no. That can be difficult, especially when it is people you love that seem to always count on you. You have to make a decision if what is being asked of you can be put into your schedule without cutting other things you feel are a priority out. If you have to stop doing your own goals or things of importance to you in order to do what is being asked then you need to consider saying no. If you are a person in your family that everyone depends on because you are always there to help or do things they ask it may be time to let others in your family step up and do things instead of you. Take a moment and ask that family member if they could take on something you have been asked to do. They may feel honored to be asked. It’s not always the case but you won’t know if you don’t ask others for help. You may need others to volunteer to do the bulk of something that you oversee. There are ways around this so you can help but not mess up your own schedule in the process. Saying no will allow others to step up that wouldn’t normally do so too.
Some noises in life are memories that you enjoy with your family or friends and others become overwhelming and too much sometimes. Knowing how to best deal with the noises can keep you on track and focused to meet any goal or dream. If you know your priorities and goals then focusing on those tasks can cause these other noises to fade away because it allows you to be clear in advance before taking on more than you can handle.
I hope this information was helpful and that you will share it with others that may be struggling with having less noise in their life so they too can accomplish goals and dreams that are important to them.
Have a blessed week!
