{"id":87,"date":"2011-12-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/be-still\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T17:59:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T17:59:44","slug":"be-still","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/be-still\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning to Be Still . . . Lessons Learned from RV Fulltime Living"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"\/<\/div>\n

Learning to Be Still . . . Lessons from RV Fulltime Living at the River<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cYou and I can turn and look at the silent river and wait.
\nWe know the current is there, hidden;
\nand there are comings and goings from miles away that hold the stillness exactly before us.
\nWhat the river says, that is what I say.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0– William Stafford<\/span><\/p>\n

Does your \u201cto-do\u201d list ever end?<\/p>\n

For me, as soon as one task is checked off, two more replace it.<\/p>\n

Some days, my endless list seems like a heavy cloud hovering right over my head, reminding me of all I have to get done.<\/p>\n

An endless list of tasks and chores and duties that never get completely finished, or if by some miracle they do . . . there\u2019s plenty more to take its place.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m betting you know what this feels like?<\/p>\n

It is total overwhelm.<\/span><\/h3>\n

How are you supposed to cope with the frantic scurrying around, trying to do so many things?<\/p>\n

Well, for us . . . when the stress and chaos of the world starts attacking . . . when we are at the point of not being able to clearly think or do . . .<\/p>\n

we just go the river and sit . . . and watch . . . and listen . . . and learn . . . and heal.<\/p>\n

Learning to Be Still is one of the most valuable lessons learned from RV Fulltime Living at the river. \u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

It is magical.<\/p>\n

It is beautiful.<\/p>\n

It transforms you to a peace that cannot be explained. As you watch the river flow, all struggles and stresses fall away.<\/p>\n

If the timing of your visit is at sunset, you are bathed in the intense colors as the sky says \u201cAmen\u201d to another day.<\/p>\n

\n

The Amen to another perfect day on the river<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As you listen to the sounds of the water, the birds, the breeze, the train, your mind relaxes and releases problems and frustrations that held a tight grip on you. It is healing, no doubt about it.<\/p>\n

Whenever I sit by the river, I am taken back to the summer of 2009. That is when Bruce and I sold nearly all our \u201cstuff\u201d and moved into a tent where we lived for four months. (You can read the complete story in our free ebook\u00a0\u201dWe Did It \u2013 You Can Too.\u201d)<\/p>\n

I remember the carefree feeling I had that summer . . . coming home every night after work to our tent \u2013 kicking off my heels and plopping down in the lawn chair \u2013 and doing absolutely NOTHING.<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t flip through TV channels to find entertainment \u2013 we had the glorious sunsets and the darting hummingbirds and the flowing river to fill our senses.<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t have to spend hours cleaning house \u2013 the tent was 11 x 14 and a 5 minute run- through was all it took to keep everything in order.<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t have grass to mow or windows to wash or a house to maintain \u2013 we gave that up for the simple lifestyle.<\/p>\n

That summer by the river taught me the immense value of being still.<\/span><\/h3>\n

I learned to slow down and embrace being fully present in what is happening now \u2013 not what happened yesterday or what needs to happen tomorrow \u2013 but what is right before my eyes.<\/p>\n

Would you believe we spent one evening mesmerized by a spider building its web?<\/p>\n

Many nights Bruce would wake me up at 2 or 3 am and tell me I should get up to see the stars. It always took my breath away \u2013 the sky exploded with hundreds, thousands, millions of stars!<\/p>\n

Our favorite lullaby became the coyotes yelping songs and the owls hoo-hoo-hooos.<\/p>\n

This is my special place \u2013 the place of stillness where I return when life gets unbalanced and I need to be healed and strengthened and assured and restored.<\/p>\n

The river continually draws me to come and sit silently \u2013 as if a strong current is pulling me there.<\/p>\n

I encourage you \u2013 go find your place. It\u2019s out there.<\/p>\n

When you become still, when you are silent and allow your senses to expand to a great awareness, you\u2019ll claim your spot.<\/p>\n

Then the lessons will begin, a great journey of discovery and awareness<\/p>\n

Then you\u2019ll nod your head in complete understanding of how Learning to be Still is one of the most valuable lessons from our RV Fulltime Living life at the river. \u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learning to Be Still . . . Lessons from RV Fulltime Living at the River \u201cYou and I can turn and look at the silent river and wait. We know the current is there, hidden; and there are comings and goings from miles away that hold the stillness exactly before us. What the river says, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[51,122,115,4],"class_list":["post-87","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-full-time-rv-living","tag-living-in-an-rv","tag-nature","tag-rv-living","tag-rving-full-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions\/128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/bruceandtrisha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}