“Peace is the state where love abides, and seeks to share itself. Conflict and peace are opposites. Where one abides the other cannot be; where either goes the other disappears.” ~A Course in Miracles
“Don’t let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” ~Dalai Lama
“The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress is the easiest type of existence.” ~Norman Vincent Peale
“Success isn’t measured by money or power or social rank. Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace.” ~Mike Ditka
“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” ~Saint Francis de Sales
“Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting out misperceptions.” ~Gerald Jampolsky
The concept of inner peace has been coming up a lot for me lately, whether it is with clients, family or even with myself. I bear witness to so much inner turmoil, resentment, anger, and a lack of forgiveness; it seems as though inner peace is something out of reach for many people.
It really isn’t our fault. We just haven’t been taught what inner peace is, how to find it and what we need to do to get it and keep it.
We all say we want happiness and inner peace, yet what are we doing about it?
The default course of action is to change something outside ourselves—our environment, our spouse, our children, our jobs, or other people. And if we can’t change these things we try to control everything and everyone believing this will brings us peace and happiness.
The truth of the matter is that peace, like happiness (the two go together), is an inside job.
What interferes or prevents us from finding peace? It is quite simple: anger, resentment, frustration, judgment, criticism, guilt, worry, shame, unresolved grief, anxiety and fear. All of these feelings belong to us. No person or thing outside us has control over them. They come with us wherever we go, waiting to be triggered.
So the answer lies not in what we need to change outside ourselves but in finding out what we need to change inside. If you really want peace, then you must find out what thoughts and beliefs you need to change, or what misunderstandings need resolution, or what healing and forgiveness needs to happen. This is what you really have control over and what you really need to work on.
There is a smorgasbord of amazing books out there to help you, and there are numerous coaches and counselors ready and willing to help you as well. You just have to take responsibility and be willing to help yourself.
The reality is that peace doesn’t just happen. We have to choose it. We choose it by taking whatever action we need to take to resolve the feelings that disrupt our inner peace.
Wishing you all a very peace-filled week.
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