Lessons From a Broken Car Radio

Do you have a friend who is always listening to music? The one that you can hear pull into your driveway because the music is turned up and the windows are down?

That’s me. Always.

Even at home, I always have background noise. Usually, I have Pandora on in my bedroom, the news on the TV in the living room . . . you get the idea.

This summer, I lost some of my background noise. There is some issue with my car radio. We’ve had it checked, but they couldn’t identify the problem and recommended simply replacing it. One more thing to add to the to-do list, since it means driving more than an hour and sitting somewhere (after picking out the stereo and ordering the parts, among other things).

So, it just slipped by.

I don’t spend a ton of time in the car most days. Five to 10 minutes at a time, I have almost no background noise. That doesn’t mean it’s restful necessarily—sometimes my almost 3 year old is clamoring, my phone is dinging, my to-do list is running through my head, and I’m trying to figure out what else I can get done while I’m out to make that list shorter.

So really, I’ve moved the noise inside my head, but I’ve noticed that sometimes, I find some quiet.

At first, it was mostly by accident. I would leave my phone on silent and not pick it up at a stop light. My toddler would want to sing a song. I’d be thinking about something with enough focus that it drowned out the rest of the miscellaneous thoughts.

What a gift that quiet can be!

Since coming back from vacation, I’ve been a bit more deliberate with seeking out that quiet. Sometimes, it feels silly to have my “quiet time” in the car, but why not? It’s something I do every day, and a quiet moment is something I need every day. Why not make it a habit?

I still haven’t fixed my car radio. I’m sure I’ll get around to it, but I’m just not in a hurry. That broken radio taught me a lesson. It’s okay to turn off the noise.

How do you turn off the noise and find your quiet time? Share with us!