Does a noisy mind drive you crazy? I know I can definitely relate to that! In this week’s episode, I’ll be sharing a song that addresses the noise in our lives and minds as well as some tips that have helped me a lot in this area. Maybe they could help change things for you as well!    Life, with all its highs and lows, is the best inspiration that I have found for writing songs and it seems there’s always something to write about. I think many songwriters would say similar things. You’ll find that most, if not all, of the songs of Mark Alewine Music are simply a piece of someone’s story and how God and His truth figure into it. Of course some songs come out my personal life if I’m going through a particular situation whether good or bad. Some come from other peoples lives. I love to have conversations with people and hear their stories and then sit down and write about it. Doesn’t matter who it is. Here’s how one of the songs came about. I was on the worship team one Sunday morning. We got done with rehearsal and there were 8 or 9 of us sitting around a table waiting for church to start. Struggles were definitely the prevailing topic of conversation that day. I was listening intently and feeling what each person was going through. The phrase “noise of life” came up in conversation. Others around the table nodded their heads. I pulled out my phone and started writing as they were talking. The “noise” they talked about boiled down to stuff like the distractions and demands of life that kept them so busy and preoccupied; that kept them from feeling close to God or maybe their family. Unexpected, hard news was another thing they talked about, maybe in their own life but also disturbing stuff heard continually on the news. We prayed for each other and encouraged each other. Worship was a bit sweeter that day as a result of this “life” connection we’d had around the table. Cindy and I went camping right after church. The next morning, I was reminded about the “noise” conversation when I&nbsp; realized how “noisy” the birds were around us. We started talking about the “noise” of life, what were some of the causes in our own lives and what could we do about it.&nbsp; I shared with her the rough draft of the song idea I had started on my phone around that table on Sunday and we started working it into a song which would be titled, “You Calm the Noise”. I had my guitar with me and started messing around finding a melody for it in the midst of all the nature sounds. Along with the song came something else. As we brainstormed, so many things came to mind that had been either triggers or solutions for us in the past so we created a list of them, a “noise checklist” of sorts. We were encouraged to realize that there’s quite a bit we can do to eliminate the “noise” going on in our heads if given some thought, prayer and intentionality. I want to highlight three of those for you and give you a free download of the entire list if you’re interested. The first question on the checklist is, “As far as it’s up to me, are there any broken relationships in my life?” Broken relationships can take up much of our thoughts and perhaps even keeping us awake at night which makes us more vulnerable to the noise of life in general. Since you’re human, I’m pretty sure you’ve experienced this. Sometimes vain imaginations are to blame. These are nebulous things that create riffs between people. Here’s how it plays out with me… I think or perceive that someone is mad at me and, without talking to them, I allow that to keep our relationship at a distance. I even go to bed at night thinking, “why is this person mad at me?” Worry comes into play, sleep becomes difficult, functioning at work or even functioning at home can be difficult because of I’m always thinking about that broken relationship. I need to have an intentional conversation with that person that goes something like...

How to Quiet the Noise of Life-007

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