Catholic Husband

Love / Lead / Serve

Calm

For nearly fourteen hours each day, my life is filled with abundant sound and light. Some of it is at my direction, much of it is outside of my control. Like my father before me, I try to bend the sound by playing calm music in the background, though not always to great effect.

One of my favorite things to do in the early morning or late at night is to sit in the stillness of the dark living room. I feel as if I can fully relax.

It’s not enough for me to set aside those precious minutes at the bookends of my day. I need to find calm in the chaos throughout the day. I need to process the cacophony of my household not as a noisy abyss, but as a symphony of joy. These are the sounds of life, of joy, and of youth.

Every parent experiences the stress and overwhelm of children. The secret is to change how you relate to those pressing moments. Are they my breaking point, or a perfect time for a break?