silence.
And it is the greatest gift we have...
Many of us, however, don't give being silent enough importance. We could have picked up various responses to our being silent through the years of childhood through to our adulthood. We could have used silence as a protective mechanism. We could come from homes where the atmosphere is generally silent. We could have believed that to be silent is to be rude...
I learnt a lot on silence from the writings of Maya Angelou. Learnt too, from the Buddha's sayings. And Christ being silent while being accused of all kinds of things by the priests, remaining silent in front of Pilate even as He was being handed the sentence of crucifixion, taught me the greatest lesson of all.
Growing up, we had a rule at home: If you can't say something good about a person, keep quiet.
Through the years I learnt that silence is actually a very helpful thing to learn. The most important time when we need to be silent is when someone is accusing us of something, either falsely, or without knowing all the facts. We need to be silent when words are spinning out of control in a conversation. We need to also be silent when we are getting to a point when we find ourselves dominating a conversation. We need to be silent in grief.... and in so many of the situations that are exclusive to our life experiences.... because it is in this deliberate silence that we find the strength we need...a strength born out of pain. And it is this strength which enables and helps us to face difficult/unpleasant/unhappy situations...it is this strength which gives us the right words...it is this strength which clears the mind and heart...it is this strength which puts us on the right path...it is this strength which fills us with quiet peace...