Spiritual

Circle of Wellness
How To Be At Peace With Yourself
Spirituality

With so much unrest around the world, most of us pray that peace prevails. But why are a handful of people waging war against the world? Do they really have a reason, or are they simply not at peace with themselves?

Many claim that the latter is true. It is quite likely too. Have you ever noticed how you snap at others, bang the door, kick something, or hit someone when you are angry? This happens when your peace perishes. It is true that, “when you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others” (A Peace Pilgrim quote).

The triggers of your unhappiness may be outside yourself, but it’s the absence of inner peace that makes you react the way you do. And this is why different people react differently to similar situations.

The question arises, how do we find inner peace? The answer lies within you. "Nothing can bring you peace but yourself" (Ralph Waldo Emerson). As we face the challenges and crises of our time, enduring inner peace is more important than ever. To cultivate inner peace, you need a systematic three-step approach:

1) Acknowledge The first step is to acknowledge that there is a problem. Then, find out the reason for that problem. In this case you need to identify the cause that is disturbing your inner peace. Is it your health, career, personal relationships, family, finances, or something else?

2) Analyse Now that you have pinpointed the causes of your lack of inner peace, try to analyse them. Think, or better still, write down the reasons for these causes. For example, if your career is not moving in the right direction, what is the reason? Do you lack the skills? Is there an economic slowdown? Or is it your bad health?

3) Act After identifying the problem, you need a cure for it. Think of all the possible and practical solutions. History has proven that the most distressful situations were the starting point of many big and successful ventures.

The following tips will help you perform these three steps successfully:

• Have a positive attitude. The mind is a powerful medium. While unfounded fears can make you sick (psychosomatic diseases), strong positive beliefs can bring about positive outcomes in your life. (Interesting reading: http://www.themastersofthesecret.com/)

• Get in touch with yourself. It may sound strange, but stuck in the rut of life, we often get separated from our innermost feelings. We concentrate on our goals, objectives, hopes and aspirations but forget about our feelings. Feelings are very strong emotions. They can cause tremendous inner turmoil, or can be a source of strength in very trying situations.

• Be compassionate and honest with yourself. Compassion can cure. Emotional honesty gives better insight. Acknowledge and accept how you feel. Feelings of pain, frustration, exhaustion, anger and disappointment are real and legitimate.

• Don’t be too critical of yourself. Being aware of your weaknesses helps you improve, but being too self-critical can be detrimental. It can knock your confidence and can hinder you from accomplishing what you can.

• Forgive and forget. Bottled up grievances and guilt can be the source of inner turmoil. Forgive others as well as yourself of any past mistakes, and move on with life peacefully. Also, learn to let go of painful past experiences. Do not continue to relive them by hoarding those memories. Process the past for insight, not for pain.

• Breathe out your tension. Negative thoughts, trying situations, and tough circumstances can intoxicate your thinking ability. Practice deep breathing to cleanse your thoughts. Breathe out your fears, frustrations, insecurity, or whatever is troubling you. And breathe in peace, tranquility and serenity.

• Healthy body for a healthy mind -you can’t cultivate a healthy attitude if your body is unhealthy. A holistic approach to inner piece demands that you strive for a healthy body too.

• A date with yourself – take time out for yourself. Do what pleases you. Make it a point to do things that you like. It could be a walk in the wilderness, writing poetry, cooking your favourite dish or collecting colourful leaves. Do it especially when you feel unsettling emotions. Inner peace is achieved by learning to accept yourself, others, and the situations you encounter.

‘Only when you find peace within yourself, you can see more clearly, act more effectively, cooperating with the energies within and around you to build a more peaceful world.’ (Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu)