On the Trifecta of Rediscovery

I have rediscovered oatmeal. I used to eat it growing up, especially in elementary school, but only recently have I begun to switch from cereal back to this healthful alternative. It's a lot healthier than a lot of different kinds of cereal, and when you're like me, and are trying to eat better, anything that cuts your calories will help. I have been eating the Quaker instant kind, which is as easy as it gets to make-just pour on some milk and stick it in the microwave for one minute. Obviously, I can't eat it every day, but I have a feeling that eating oatmeal for breakfast several times a week is going to help a great deal with losing weight.

I have also rediscovered the fitness center in my apartment building. Normally I go to RPAC (Ohio State's Recreation and Physical Activity Center) to work out, but the high today was about 17 degrees, meaning I would have frozen to death somewhere on Neil Avenue. So I worked out in the building instead. It was nice-it's just a small room, and there was no one else in there. I could be alone with my thoughts for a while, instead of listening to the din of 100 people jogging and TV's playing afternoon episodes of Oprah or SportsCenter.

To complete the trifecta...I have rediscovered the value of silence. Honestly, how much silence do we have in our lives these days? Not nearly enough. Let me explain.

I first figured this out on my way to work about a week and a half ago. It was about 7:30 in the morning, and I was doing my usual fiddling with the dial at a red light, trying to find a good station. Finally, not being able to find one among the dozen or so I listen to regularly, I turned the radio off. I drove the rest of the way to work in total silence, with nothing but the noise of traffic to disturb this tranquility. It was the most gratifying simple pleasure that I had experienced in a long time, and all I had to do was push a button. I did the same thing on the way home from work that day, not even turning the radio on, except for a few brief minutes to hear the local news.

I have begun to realize that there is a spiritual dimension to this as well. When I turn off the radio, or the TV, or seek out silence when I can get it, it is akin to letting God's presence into my life, in that small way. He is always there, but I was never able to hear Him over country, or talk radio, or whatever it was that was playing in the background. One of the things I have learned in this brief year so far is that sometimes, God speaks in what we think are the dead spots between point A and point B in the car, or the times we are sitting in our apartment without the TV on or a law book in our hands (as rare as those times are nowadays). If you're paying attention, sometimes you can really feel God's presence-it seems to have its own form of quiet reassurance, an unspoken "I'm here" that you feel when you need it the most.

This is why I am going to try and seek out more silence in my life, as a way of working toward my goals in 2007 (a stronger walk with the Lord, and better stress management). The less I have to listen to background noise, the better off I will be.