Assalaamu alaikum ZZZ,
I have looked a little into soundproofing. I found this in the UK:
http://www.gowallpaper.co.uk/saarpor...all-liner.html It's supposed to be particularly useful against hoovers. At £74.50 to cover 5m
2 (plus adhesive), you are right that it's quite pricy, but why do you need to do the
whole house? Why not just your bedroom? Or the smallest bedroom, and make that yours? And if you looked into how to do it yourself, then it would be cheaper than a contractor.
When I talk of changing internal responses, I mean changing how you react to things. For instance, instead of looking at how something
can't work, I'd focus on trying to find ways so that it
can work. You'd be surprised what you can do, you know. You can't afford to paper the whole house? So paper just a bit. Could straw bale work (I stayed in a straw bale cabin once; it was eerily quiet)? Inside the house? As a cabin in the garden? Are there any other materials you could use? Have you tried running a continuous noise machine? I'd research my options. Ask for ideas. Research those...
Then if, after all efforts, there is really no way out... then you have to try diving into yourself. I've read of people who survived prison, slavery, concentration camps... and some people found ways to cope with these truly horrible situations. How? By finding ways to balance their inner Selves. By trying to focus on what they
could do, rather than what they
couldn't. You can't end apartheid in your society? Ok. But maybe you can set up soccer teams in your prison. You can't stop the Nazis from gassing and torturing people? Ok. But maybe you can do some little acts of kindness for those suffering around you. You are being tortured and humiliated? Ok. But maybe you can retain your dignity by realizing that
no one can take your dignity from you. That the evil that others do to you degrades
them, not you. By holding onto your inner Self and refusing to accept the humiliation and blame that the torturers are trying to inflict on you... you are resisting them. You can't stop them from raping the young woman in your cell? You can't stop hearing her screams? Ok. But you can care. Perhaps you can comfort her later. Perhaps you can hold onto the promise in your mind that you will, if you survive this, tell the story of what happened to her to the world. That you will do what you
can. In the endless torture of the moment, it seems like we can do nothing. But
refusing to believe that we are fully helpless forever... gives us strength.
Death is
not a solution. Death is the end of our opportunities in this life to struggle towards Allah. If God Decides that our Test is over, so be it. But if He has Given us the opportunity to live a little longer, and struggle a little longer... then it would be ungrateful and foolish to leave the examination room before we have completed the test.
(gently) You are exhausted. I know. You feel helpless. I know. When I talk about inner changes, I mean the realization that you are
not helpless. At the very least, you can hold your inner Self in the best balance you can, and be the best person you can be. This is hard? Oh God yes! But it is doable.
(smile) And once we
refuse to accept that we are helpless... this is empowering. We feel less stress. We can let go of what we
can't control, and seize upon that which we
can. And
this is when Allah is likely to Send us openings. When we are
ready to take them, they have an astonishing tendency to appear.
(smile) Anyway, it's good to see you on the Forum. And if you want to brainstorm solutions... (smile) perhaps we can help you with this?
May Allah, the Loving, the Aware, Help us to realize what we
can do.