Finding peace amidst chaos

[BeeSweet]

The noise and distractions in and around my house have been :whacky: the past few days. Weekends are always a bit on the wild side, but Friday and today during what used to be my quiet time has been filled with the most unbelievable racket outside. The city water dept is doing some work on the pipes underground. This morning when they started work, they started with a jackhammer! Right now I’m listening to motors and whirring drill noises as well as the “beep beep beep” of reversing vehicles going on and off and on and off… It’s maddening! :hypno: I don’t know how many more days this will go on, but at least I’m sure it’s not forever. They’re in the street at the end of my driveway. I can feel the floor shaking sometimes when they’re running that jackhammer!

So my question is, are there any tricks, suggestions, methods that others use to block out the noise in the midst of chaos to find a peaceful place within to pray? I know people can do it, I’m just not the sort of person who finds it easy to do. I can actually use this advice when the construction crew is not here too, because… well I struggle with this anyway, even minor noises and distractions can be very annoying and frustrating for me. I can fall so deep in thought that often I’m scared right out of my skin if someone enters the room (my husband hates that, he startles me all the time). But only if it’s quiet can I reach that kind of deep thought. Noises and distractions, television, music, people going in and out of the house and then again in and out… all can at times drive me totally bonkers.

Are there any spiritual exercises anyone can recommend to help develop a better ability to find calm during the storm?

 

[nicolep]

I started by being in quiet with God while going to sleep. Life is so crazy…trying to find time in the day to pray the way I thought I should was extremely difficult. I constantly try to think of God at all times. Praying doesn’t have to be only about asking or praising. Sometimes we can just “be.” It’s hard to do during the day. But I think you’ll find even a few minutes with our Lord before falling to sleep will greatly increase your relationship with Him. If I fall asleep sooner than anticipate that’s okay. If I stay awake too long (and miss much needed sleep), I’ll turn on the TV or read a book to get my mind distracted. That seemed strange at first, but became necessary after a few weeks of this practice. It’s my own little take on the Examen of Conscience. Best of luck and may God bless you.

 

[dret]

One thing that I like to do in the evening is to listen to Podcasts of programs from places like EWTN. If you have an IPod or MP3 player, for about $10 you should be able to go to a decent electronics/media store and get a pillow that you can plug your IPod into. You can then lay on the pillow and listen to the program without having to worry about getting up and turning off the stereo, or falling asleep with headphones in your ears. I do this many nights to blot out city noise, and the focus of these programs on prayer, scripture, the catechism, etc., is a wonderful way to relax and go to sleep or even just to shut out the world for a bit. Good luck!

 

[nicolep]

One thing that I like to do in the evening is to listen to Podcasts of programs from places like EWTN. If you have an IPod or MP3 player, for about $10 you should be able to go to a decent electronics/media store and get a pillow that you can plug your IPod into. You can then lay on the pillow and listen to the program without having to worry about getting up and turning off the stereo, or falling asleep with headphones in your ears. I do this many nights to blot out city noise, and the focus of these programs on prayer, scripture, the catechism, etc., is a wonderful way to relax and go to sleep or even just to shut out the world for a bit. Good luck!

What a fantastic idea!

 

[dret]

It has been a real blessing and sometimes even a comfort after a bad day to know when I go to bed that I can listen to something like “The Journey Home” or Father Groeschel’s show in bed and not be distracted by the glare of the TV. Plus if you fall asleep, no worries! The show is downloaded onto your player, so the next night you can always pick up from where you fell asleep the night before.

 

[BeeSweet]

One thing that I like to do in the evening is to listen to Podcasts of programs from places like EWTN. If you have an IPod or MP3 player, for about $10 you should be able to go to a decent electronics/media store and get a pillow that you can plug your IPod into. You can then lay on the pillow and listen to the program without having to worry about getting up and turning off the stereo, or falling asleep with headphones in your ears. I do this many nights to blot out city noise, and the focus of these programs on prayer, scripture, the catechism, etc., is a wonderful way to relax and go to sleep or even just to shut out the world for a bit. Good luck!

What a neat gadget, I’ll have to look into that!

I practice Morning and Evening Prayer, and I do try to get in Night Prayer with an examination of conscience.

My question is how to focus on prayer within even in the middle of extreme distractions? How do you quiet your mind even when bombs are dropping outside? I’m sure it can be done, I just haven’t the slightest idea how people do it.

 

[dret]

The nice thing about it is that you can enjoy it in bed without disturbing anyone else since you can only hear the program by placing your ear on the pillow - it’s not like a regular speaker that broadcasts loud enough for anyone to hear. Hopefully some of the other posters will have some good ideas for you about what to do at other times, good for you making the effort!