“The next time you feel like God is silent in your life, remember that nobody shouts when they are right next to you.”

Have you ever wanted advice, but no one would give it to you? I was going through a very difficult time in my life in my late 20’s. And, one of my very best friends, who was more like a mom to me, would take walks with me during lunch. On those walks, I would tell her what was happening or not happening in my current relationship. She would nod her head and listen, but never gave me any advice.

Never.

Ever.

And, it was so incredibly frustrating.

I wanted nothing more than to hear her tell me what to do. I wanted to know what direction I needed to head into. I wanted to know what decisions I needed to make.

But, she never said anything remotely close to advice. She was too smart to do that.

She knew that the decisions I had to make were life-altering and only I had the ability to make those decisions for myself. If she made the decisions for me or offered me advice that I took and things went badly, then I could blame her. If I took her advice and things went well, then I could end up not trusting myself in the future.

It was time for me to be an adult and make decisions that only I needed to make. Not her and not anyone else.

I prayed and pleaded with God and the universe to show me a sign. But, there wasn’t a grand light of inspiration and no stone tablets were etched for me to follow.

I look back on that time and realized that I knew what I needed to do all along. I just had to be courageous enough to actually do it. The answers I wanted were already there. I just had to sit in the quiet and listen. When I wanted someone to shout to me, it was in those silent moments that I learned what I needed to do and finally took action.

So, I ended the relationship and my initial, immediate response was relief! I was free to be who I wanted to be and do what truly made me happy in my life. And, I was no longer under the emotional abuse that plagued me throughout that relationship.

Nearly 30 years later, I’m living my best life! My dreams have been surpassed bigger and better than I could ever have imagined! I have an amazing wife and three beautiful, talented, witty, adult children. They all are the most important people in my world and the loves of my life!

And, I have a fulfilling job with the best coworkers. Not to mention this blog that provides me with an outlet for my writing!

Once I realized that I would not hearing anyone shouting and took time to silently reflect, I knew what direction I needed to take. Had I not listed to my gut and my heart, I would never have been able to make the best decisions for me. Had I not slowed down, I would not have been able to grow in my own experience.

It’s a good thing that no one was shouting at me – at least not on the outside.

And, I’m glad I had the courage to go through the difficulties that time in my life created. Because what waited for me on the other side was much bigger, much better, and more sweeter than I could ever have imagined!

Take solace in the silence. It has a lot to say.