A fulfilling life starts with peace, a sense of calmness permeating your being that overcomes circumstances and distractions. Absent peace, it is more difficult to experience joy fully or obtain accomplishment.
Peace may be present, but it is not toes in warm sand listening to the crashing waves or soaking in the majestic scenery from the mountaintop. Nor is peace absent when you violently react to an idiot cutting you off on the highway or a four-hour flight delay.
Peace is where you are, not someplace you go. Peace provides the ability to remain calm during the storm. It is the awareness there are constellations of shining stars obscured by the city’s light pollution. Peace is not reliant on or unduly disturbed by circumstances beyond our control. It persists during illness, financial distress, or while grieving the loss of a loved one.
Source Code
This reflection is the correct time to be self-centered, looking internally to determine what is right and worthy. Peace occurs when your actions are in alignment with your standards and values.
By standards, I am referring to your code of conduct, which includes honesty, integrity, fairness, etc. When you act in conformity with your standards, you can be at peace. When you do not, you cannot. Unless you are a psychopath, anxiety accompanies dishonesty.
By values, I refer to what you believe is worthy of pursuing. Most want to be a loving family member, servant to others, professionally successful, etc. Like your code of conduct, when you pursue worthy endeavors, you are peaceful, and less so when you do not. Consider your peace when watching your child play or chasing the deal enabling you to buy a Maserati.
While peace is not dependent upon circumstances, you facilitate favorable ones with proper nutrition, good sleep, and regular physical and mental activity.
I am compelled to mention the force behind my peace is a belief in a God who unfailingly loves all. This faith surpasses any circumstance or impulse and my inability to understand why bad things happen to good people.
The Enemy
Ironically, we need protection from the very thing that provides our peace-enabling personal standards, our ego. Regretfully, the ego also ignites feelings robbing our peace.
Our need for control prevents us from accepting (not acquiescing to) things beyond our control. I rage against the traffic and solar panels permissibly built near my property line rather than control the only thing I can, my response. This surrender concept is an essential element of the 12-step spiritual practice, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can….”
Our need for acceptance compels us to actions we do not value. Remarkably, we work too much to buy clothes, cars, and jewelry we do not need to impress people we do not like so we can be part of a crowd that does not share our values.
Even though my home possesses every comfort I deem necessary and desirable, my ego inspires envy by pointing out I have friends with multiple homes, each with fair market values that are multiples of my home’s value. One’s primary residence is four times larger than mine. Another sold a home for more than 100 times my home’s appraised value (not worth).
Our ego will continually provide unjustified reasons to disrupt our peace: holding onto the past, taking things too personally, anxiety about the future, etc. We cannot permanently silence our ego, but we can subdue it by reminding ourselves of our self-determined values. For this reason, teachers are content; they value educating children over items one can purchase through higher-paying professions.
For those concerned that peace destroys ambition, reserve judgment until you read the upcoming message on accomplishment.
Our Charge
Peace is the emotional state freeing you to pursue your values, experience life fully, and accomplish the important. While our egos and circumstances may conspire to make it elusive, peace is entirely accessible as it found within.
