I live near a venue where professional and televised basketball, football, and baseball games are played. In this Age of The Internet, advertisers still use low-flying planes with banners that fly incessantly over my house. During playoffs, helicopters and blimps hover over the arena. The noise is irritating, but used to drive me into a rage, especially on a nice Sunday morning when I was trying to enjoy peace and quiet.
I would stand outside, document the fly-over times, and submit written complaints to the airport noise officer, who would send confirmations, but do nothing else. I did this consistently for about six months – a total waste of my time and energy.
I have neighbors who used to play loud, bass-containing, rap music with N, F, and B words for hours on end. I would incur their anger by repeatedly asking them to turn it down, earning the reputation as the mean lady on the block. I would complain about people leaving vehicles in front of my house and numerous other nuisances. I did not enjoy living in my house, primarily because of external irritants.
When meditating, I like to have complete silence. In the past, if there was noise, I became so distracted I stopped meditating. Isn’t that crazy? There is always noise of some kind. The thoughts of your mind are louder than any external thing. If you become quiet enough, you can hear your heartbeat or the hum of energy surrounding you.
I finally decided to try to be peace in order to have peace, primarily by looking within.
