“Silence is the best way to let someone know they did wrong.” Pinterest anonymous
“Don’t let the noise of other people’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.”
“Don’t be fooled my silence is not a sign of weakness.” picture perfect
“Your perspective on life comes from the cage you were held captive in.” Shannon Alder
There are times when I can’t think of anything to say to anyone. It makes me feel stupid and without any thoughts. On other occasions I feel like I am talking too much and I go home wondering if I said too much. At a future date in time I review what I said wondering if that is why someone is a bit unfriendly with me. I can’t always recall everything that I said so I promise myself in the future, to be more careful with my words .
Noise and silence
Silence is a crazy notion. We talk to communicate so it appears inevitable to speak rather than be silent. Here is where confusion sets in. If a baby is hungry or a child is hurt or hungry they cry and get attention. As adults we do the same in a different manner. Noise appears to be a good thing in these cases. When we are angry about something or with someone we speak out of turn or yell without thinking and have no remorse. This is likely not a good thing.
Communication and living peacefully
People are quiet at funerals and sometimes weddings because they don’t have the words to explain their deep emotions. Silence is appropriate in these circumstances. If someone is in danger most others will yell in concern and as a warning. I am getting boring with all this chatter but I think we all get the idea that . Actually words such as stillness peace calm and quiet are words explaining silence. I can see how one could deceive others with silence because nobody is sure what the person is actually thinking.
We might believe that silence denotes reflection which supports our decision making and I agree with this thought. The problem always arises when we think instead of remaining quiet or we remain quiet when we should be speaking. Now the soup is mixed and the uncomfortable feelings set in. I love making soup so I apologize for the analogy. Soup is always a different mixture just as situations and people.
Saying very little
When an opinion is asked of a mother-in-law she might be better off in silence or saying very little. Her opinion gets her into trouble. The daughter-in-law’s opinion is accepted with an easier attitude. A parent’s voice is the authority figure and although not wanted it is obeyed for the most part. The child’s attitude of silence is desirable to the parents. The child is judged as not having the ability to make choices and this is debatable. The point is we are rewarded with calmness and peace if we speak certain times or remain in silence at other times. Big or small it corresponds about the same way.
Maybe we hold our tongue at work when the boss makes unreasonable suggestions. Let’s face it we want to keep our job. I hate it when they say make a suggestion or give an opinion. Nobody has a desire to be fired. It is a mute subject and the people understand this as they all agree with the decision regardless of their inner thoughts about it. Silence and peace are maintained although there has been a price of integrity for this peace.
Get along to go along
To get along we all must go along at times in our lives. I agree. The difficult part is when our silence is causing serious subject matter to be overlooked. It isn’t about making trouble, causing an argument or disrupting the status quo but about integrity, mindfulness and truth. Once we give these attributes up for the sake of peace like a button into a button hole, it gets easier to do without any effort or thought.
It becomes easier to believe we are off of the hook because we believe it is not our fault. It is “they” who decide. It is a pet peeve of mine to cringe when I hear the word “they” even if I use it myself. I wonder who “they” are and I would like to see and meet them one day. I know “they” keep us clean neutral and silent. There are no accusations implied as I am quiet so many times myself. Nobody likes to make waves and most of us have so much on our plates that taking on a mountain of a problem is not what we want to do.
Getting involved and taking on guilt
I relieve my guilty feelings with the knowledge that I don’t have enough information, am not smart enough to figure it out, and I don’t know the repercussions of another choice nor do I have the time to work on the problem. I must admit I neatly absolve myself from getting involved and from taking on any guilt. The older I get the more it doesn’t work for me to accept my excuses.
I am not a rebel but it is easy to see many wrongs in any society of people including work places and recreational facilities. every area of society appears to impact people in various wasy for the better or the worse. I know people should take some responsibility. Without a doubt we can’t pull our own weight and the weight of others. My faith is in teaching others how to go about pulling their share of problems.
Don’t always have options
Silence also means to hush stifle suppress and squash. this innocently happens to us daily and you have to question the innocence. Decisions are made for us. We don’t always have any options. It is the stifling, suppression and squashing that I have a problem with. Women who are abused and then ignored even in a subdued manner need a voice. Kids who are abandoned and abused but not acknowledged until they are practically near death require action not attention after the fact.
There are so many abuses of people in one form or another. Those with disabilities are challenged and uneducated people search for a voice to be heard. The squeaky wheel gets the attention but so many others with wounds and pains keep their silence. We can feel guiltless by saying it is not our problem and then we can look away with blocked ears.
Living away from the tragedies of life absolves us in a way. We don’t see it so we can let it go. It is only real when we see and hear the cries of anguish but most kids have cried so long and hard that they begin living in silence. I know we can’t all join a peace corps or get physically involved but we do have voices and unless we speak up nothing will ever change.
Don’t jump into the fire but pull the alarm
The next time you see or hear something that appears wrong go with your heart and intuitive self. That will give you a better understanding of the truth. It is better to call fire and find it was only a campfire than to refuse to see or hear and find out there was a blaze going on. I have recently been convinced that God will not judge us as harshly on the wrongs that we did as much as he will judge us on the times we overlooked people who needed us and we walked away. You don’t have to jump into the fire but pull the alarm.
“In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” Martin Luther King
“The world is a dangerous place not because of those who do evil but because of those who look on and do nothing.” Albert Einstein
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil but by those who watch them without doing anything.” Albert Einstein
Audrey Lorde said it best with the quote below.
“We have been socialized to respect fear more than our own need for language.
I began to ask each time: “What’s the worst that could happen to me if I tell this truth?” Unlike women in other countries, our breaking silence is unlikely to have us jailed, “disappeared” or run off the road at night. Our speaking out will irritate some people, get us called bitchy or hypersensitive and disrupt some dinner parties. And then our speaking out will permit other women to speak, until laws are changed and lives are saved and the world is altered forever. Next time, ask: What’s the worst that will happen? Then push yourself a little further than you dare. Once you start to speak, people will yell at you. They will interrupt you, put you down and suggest it’s personal. And the world won’t end. And the speaking will get easier and easier. And you will find you have fallen in love with your own vision, which you may never have realized you had. And you will lose some friends and lovers, and realize you don’t miss them. And new ones will find you and cherish you. And you will still flirt and paint your nails, dress up and party, because, as I think Emma Goldman said, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” And at last you’ll know with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking.”
