Lao Tzu wrote:
if you are depressed, you are living in the past,
if you are anxious, you are living in the future,
if you are at peace, you are living in the present.
Finding inner piece is not simple. You just don’t wake up one day and say “today I am going to have “inner peace”. There’s a process one has to go through, there is a starting point with no ending, inner peace is a journey.
One has to be willing to let go and experience the full spectrum of feelings and emotions. Some of those feelings/emotions you probably hide in a box at the back of your cupboard. The only way to tackle it is to bring it to the forefront and open the box.
Many people will give you advice on finding peace, and their intentions are good, there are self help books, all are mechanisms to assist you on this journey, but the true transformation and evolution begins with you. Paradigm shifts of the mind, spirit and soul.
I was asked “how come I remain so calm, in emotional or stressful situations, it’s like you at peace with everything?”No, I think it involves years of experiencing certain life lessons, its ongoing, every day is a new discovery of self. Previously I would react in situations; go into panic mode, dissect every comment or opinion etc.
I tried to find harmony whilst in my comfort zone, until a psychologist friend told me, “you will never find harmony, if you play it safe within your comfort zone” that’s a false sense of peace, let alone inner peace. She was so right. I had to get out of my comfort zone.
This is what I think is contributing to my Inner Peace.
Comfort Zones:
We all have that emotional bag we drag everywhere with us. Some have big ones, others have smaller ones. Past actions, which we are ashamed off, judgments towards others and ourselves, self esteem/ confidence issues and the list goes on. Some of us are just wired up in a more complex manner than others.
We are captains of a ship, if we stay tied to the dock and never set sail, how will we know if we are good captains or not. The only way to tackle our issues is by heading out, getting out of the comfort zones.
Anything you see in others, you have in yourself also and any judgment you make towards another, is really about you. This applies to both “good” and “bad” things. I am learning this every day because you can’t find inner peace if you are constantly judging yourself and others. This is process of learning and being willing to admit to yourself and others when you are wrong. You will be surprised how much you learn about yourself this way!
No More Control Freak:
People who know me well, say I am a control freak. Every day, I consciously tell myself, not to read into things, there’s no point, quit stressing about what people think or say in my absence; its none of my business. I am finding that I have to re-train my mind and it’s not an easy task. I need to stop thinking about controlling everything because not everything is within my control.
Changing Myself:
Unless you have been overcome with some phenomenal amount of wisdom in one go, for me this is my greatest challenge on my journey of Inner Peace.
“Knowing when to mind my own business” is based on little wisdoms in life. I only have the ability to change myself and it is not for me to judge anyone else, their actions, their opinions, and the way they live their lives. Time is precious and energy is limited (we only have that much energy in a day before ones needle tips the “empty” mark on the personal energy gauge). So rather spend my time making positive changes within me, than trying to change others.
Meditation
This comes naturally for me; as I have been meditating for as long as I can remember. Meditation is very important part of my inner peace process and I normally meditate late at night, as one would say, in the quietness of the night.
The Arabic/Sufi word is Muraqaba (Arabic: ??????) is the Sufi word for meditation.
It’s that point where I get in touch with my spiritual heart. This is the most hidden part of myself, my thoughts and memories. I clear away all the clutter of thoughts and this takes me to the deeper level. This is the most relaxing part of my inner peace journey. It reconnects me physically, emotionally mentally and spiritually.
Meditation helps me with self-acceptance; reminding me not to be hard on myself.We are all here on this earth learning and growing every day.
“Happiness already exists within us, but it’s often covered up by our conditioned thought patterns and all kinds of distractions. Just as a radiant sunrise can be hidden behind the clouds, our inner happiness can become obscured by constricted awareness and our daily concerns.
But no matter how long we have been lost in fear and limitation, we can learn to rise above the clouds of conditioning and awaken to the source of happiness within us.”
Every day we make choices. We choose one thought over another, we choose one behavior over another, and we choose to take one path over another. When we investigate our lives, existing with awareness and taking responsibility for our choices, we are choosing to live an authentic life, inner peace then becomes much more attainable.How are you getting Inner Peace?
What are you doing to attain some sanity in this crazy world?
- Women24