In our hyper-connected, hyper-goal oriented world, the rush of things becomes a constant undercurrent to my day.  How can we hear our hearts speaking their truth when there is so much noise and turbulence? Drowned out by the phone, radio, TV, neighbor, co-worker, spouse, child, the heart would have to scream to be heard.

In fact, my heart did scream. I found myself mired in a horrendous place, where I was close to violently unhappy in my situation.  I was scared, vulnerable, and susceptible to quick fixes that only made things much, much worse.

I began to recover when I spent some time each day in complete quiet. I didn’t call it meditation at the time, just down time. Eventually it grew into a practice of quietly learning to hear my heart speak.

The true healing came for me when I spent two months in a cottage on the Gulf of Mexico the next winter. I began every day with a four mile walk on the beach, with only the seagulls and an occasional dolphin to keep me company. With each step, I focused on clearing my head of the noise, the shouts and the chaos. Every step brought me closer to peace, until, finally, I arrived back at the cottage with a clear mind.

The more I practiced this, the easier it became to block out the seemingly endless thoughts, the constant chorus of voices. And once I got to quiet, I started to really hear my own voice, the voice of my own heart. What blessed bliss this is now to start and end each day with this time.

By the end of my incredible two months on the shore, that quiet space turned into a new place for creativity and imagination, for problem solving and forgiveness, and ultimately for a deep peace and joy that I had never known.

You can find source in so many places, in those little moments that take your breath away. I will never forget when my oldest daughter Valerie was born and I held her for the first time. In that moment, I saw the Milky Way in her eyes, as if she knew all the wonders of the Universe. For the first time in my life, I felt completely connected to God.

Begin today to find your source; just take 10 minutes and turn off all the noise, breathe deeply and let the thoughts drift in and drift out again. Tomorrow add another minute or two. It doesn’t take long, but the results are amazing.

Excerpted from “10 Little Rules for a Blissy Life” by Carol Pearson.