Why all this fuss about quietude, anyway?

I know I tend to go on ad nauseam about clearing and quieting the mind. I often speak to the downside of living life inside of one's head; but, it occurs to me that, perhaps I need to address, more directly, the reasons why one might want to pursue such an ethereal endeavor.

The first and most immediate benefit of quieting the chatter box, is the sense of calm and peacefulness that embraces your being. When the past is put to rest, hope and faith granted to the future and what is, allowed to be what it is, we automatically feel connected to, and welcomed into, the flow of life's unfolding. True happiness isn't conditional, it just is.

When not distracted by our own incessant inner ramblings, we gain perceptual clarity as our ability to hold our focus strengthens and our concentration is naturally increased. This improves, not only our vision and understanding, but also our effectiveness in our actions and our confidence in ourselves.

When we're too enamored by our thoughts, our sight becomes very narrow. The harder we look at something, the tighter our field of vision becomes. With inner calm comes an ever broadening perspective. This gives greater clarity on any specifics, and a clearer overview of how the bits and pieces fit into the bigger picture. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, a wider perspective has the benefit of helping to clarify and re-order our priorities into a better alignment with our greater intentions.

How often do you sense someone you're talking to you, or find yourself, paying more attention to what you want to say, than listening what the other is saying. If we're able to let go of our sense of self importance we are able to actually be with our companions. To empathize and relate to others with genuine interest and compassion.

The greater world also receives little of our focused attention when the mind is abuzz with multiple conversations and mixed emotions. The world is really beautiful when we actually see it. Bonus.

Perhaps the most meaningful benefit of a quiet mind is our ability to hear that inner voice, which speaks to us in a soft whisper. This is the source of our intuition, inspiration, wisdom, compassion, insight and divine guidance.

There may come a point when the quiet feels not so much like a refuge, but more like home. A state where the self is still present, but relatively unimportant, due to a fuller realization of the expansiveness of our underlying consciousness. At that point, it's no longer so much of a pursuit, as it is, a way of life.