Peace is something we all want, but don’t always know how to get. Here’s how to reach deep and discover your own inner peace.
“Inner peace.” That terms a buzzword in our collective mind. It sounds great, but how do you get there? Finding inner peace isn’t like finding change in your sofa. It’s a bit trickier to find.
Determine What You Can Change
There are things you can control and things you can’t. To find your inner peace you need to focus on the things you change and make your peace with the things you can’t change. To do that, you need to figure out which is which. I believe that the main reason most people focus on the things they can’t change is because they’re under the mistaken impression that they can actually change them. But they can’t. So they get frustrated, because they’re trying to change their mother in law’s obnoxious behavior or their aunt’s particular viewpoint about a particular minority group.
Meanwhile, things they can control, such as the amount of money they have in their savings account, or their ever expanding waist lines or their lack of a love life go completely unaddressed, because they think there is nothing they can do about it. But these things they can change, but they’re not aware of it for some reason.
The difference between successful and unsuccessful people is that successful people know the difference between the two and they focus on the things they can change and they feel good about the progress they make. Unsuccessful people focus on things they can’t change and if by some miracle they focus on something they can change and they change it, they get frustrated. Maybe it didn’t happen fast enough or it didn’t work out. That’s not going to get you anywhere near your inner peace.
A big way to find your inner peace is by simply relaxing and quietly focusing on what you can change. And more importantly feeling good about it.
How Managing Your Emotions Can Help You Find Peace
Managing your emotions is a big key to finding your inner peace. Getting angry and pissed off about something may feel good and you may be valid in getting upset, but it will take way more energy to get angry than it does to get and stay even keel at all times. That doesn’t mean you are a doormat. You don’t have to take shit from anyone, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a jerk either. Be assertive, be aggressive, but staying on an level emotionally will help you get your inner peace on because being angry and negative takes a lot out of you. If your emotions are in check, you are in essence keeping more gas in the tank and not burning yourself out emotionally. This means you will have a longer fuse which means you get pissed off less, which helps you keep zen.
Simplify Your Life
Cut out the unnecessary stuff. Here is where I recommend being ruthless. If anyone or anything is getting in the way of your inner peace, remove it from your life. If your job is pissing you off, get a new one. If you’re not happy in your romantic relationship, work with your partner to fix it or get out. They say life is short. That’s not exactly true. It’s only short if you do it right. If you’re unhappy or stressed or miserable or just not doing what you feel you are capable of, then it’s long.
It’s always the hard times that seem the longest. The great moments fly by. Cultivating your inner peace allows you to savor the good times and keep it together when times are rough. The more you have on your plate the more likely you are to burn the candle at both end and the less likely you are to have the mental clarity to cultivate your inner peace. Your mind is like a garden, yes there are flowers growing there. Many, many flowers, that are rich, beautiful and colorful. But there are also weeds, as there are in any garden. You have to go in there and pull the weeds out. This is an ongoing process.
Simplying your life is huge to help cultivate your inner peace, but don’t ever think you can stop tending to your garden. You can’t stop working out and expect to be in the same shape so you can’t get to inner peace and stop working. It’s a continuous process.
Treat Yourself!
Let’s face it. Life is hard unless you’re insanely wealthy and or a kid. And in general it gets more complicated as life goes on, especially if you’re on a path of growth and self improvement. It will take time and there will be ups and downs, setbacks, failures, and all that. But there will also be successes. Celebrating yourself and life in general is important to maintaining and creating inner peace. Life is a pleasure based experience. Never forget that. It’s easier said than done with all our obligations. But it’s worth while if you can keep that balance going.