On Inner Peace

 

“In modern society most of us don’t want to be in touch with ourselves; we want to be in touch with other things like religion, sports, politics, a book – we want to forget ourselves. Any time we have leisure, we want to invite something else to enter us, opening ourselves to the television and telling the television to come and colonize us.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

“Peace is not an emotion. Peace is a state of being.” ~ Hal Elrod

How are you being at this moment? Are you at peace or in anxiety?

It has been an eventful week. Street protests by local traders, the sudden death of a childhood friend on Monday, the burial of a young soul that gave up too soon on Wednesday, a funeral service of a 93-year-old man who lived a full life seeing his 5th generation, hearing stories of rain sightings in various parts of the country . . . and those are only the highlights. So much more happened, both good and bad.

Each event conjures up its own set of emotions in varying degrees of intensity. What matters though, is whether ‘I have an anchor to keep my soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll’. You see, life is like an ocean and every one of us is a boat on that ocean. It is guaranteed that some days will be calm on the waters and others will be turbulent. Given those conditions, the state of the boat is the variable we are left to work with. Will my boat withstand the storms of life or will it crumble at the first sign of a gale?

It follows then that we should not allow outside circumstances to dictate the state of our inner being otherwise we will be getting tossed and turned in all directions. One minute we’re happy, the next we are depressed to the point of suicide. It is only from a place of inner peace that we can be able to correctly assess the magnitude and impact of external events, and be able to come up with an appropriate response.

With sudden deaths increasing around us, I am forced to reconsider what is really important in my life. What is worth fighting for? What is worth holding on to? How much is enough? Where should my focus be? So many people have left and very few of them had any time to prepare or even warn their loved ones of their impending exit. Most have not been previously sick, just going about their lives, being busy as usual. The shock and grief of those left behind are indicative of the unfinished business that will never be transacted, the unsaid words that are forever frozen, the promises that were never kept, and the meetings that were promised but never materialized.

Today I woke up to both my cats fast asleep on either side of my legs at the foot of my bed. I was their prisoner and needed to get free fast. I had a choice: delay for a bit and watch them wake up slowly or throw them off in my hurry. I chose the path of gratitude. Gratitude for the trust of creatures that depend on me but still think they’re my bosses. Gratitude for the gift of life; both mine and theirs. Gratitude for a new day ushered in by warm furry bellies on my feet. I could have missed it, but I caught myself just in time.

Where gratitude is an important tool to keep us grounded, acceptance of reality is equally important. The sooner you accept things as they are, the sooner you craft your response and plan to move forward. Being in denial keeps us in the past that no longer exists and delays our movement into a future that is unfolding as the clock ticks. Live in the present because tomorrow is never guaranteed and being present allows you to live without regrets.

A lot of people are living in the future they hope will be better tomorrow. Many are postponing their sense of happiness and peace to a time when things will be good again. However, you have no specific date when that will be or an assurance that things will get better. You can only hope that it will be well and you’ll be here to see it. I’d like to leave you pondering a question Hal Elrod asked – “If you can’t be happy with the life that you have now, what makes you think you’ll know how to be happy with the life that you think you want in the future?”

“Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

“If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

“There is a Zen story about a man riding a horse that is galloping very quickly. Another man, standing alongside the road, yells at him, “Where are you going?” and the man on the horse yells back, “I don’t know. Ask the horse.” I think that is our situation. We are riding many horses that we cannot control.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On Pain

Image
  On Pain Kahlil Gibran, 1883 – 1931 And a woman spoke, saying, Tell us of Pain. And he said: Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief. Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore, trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility:   For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,   And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay whic...
Read more

Out for Service

Hi readers. Unfortunately the musings are at still at the garage and return date is still out in the clouds. I found a great quote that put this pause into perspective for me. As you hold out patiently, I'd love for you think about the things that look like unnecessary curve balls in your life today. Are they really?  Enjoy the archives, luckily they are rich in content as we wait for a return.  " The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own' or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life - the life God is sending one day by day. " ~ C.S. Lewis CG
Read more

Horse and Buggy Days

Image
  “ I am old enough to enjoy a bit of nostalgia, but wise enough to know that there haven’t been any “good ol’ days” since Eden (the garden, not the prime minister). ” ~ Ron Brackin During my devotion this week, I found myself reminiscing about the ‘good ol’ days’. One of the verses I’d read had put me in that frame of mind and I rested there a while before reality called me back. The verse was from Habakkuk 3:2, which reads “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” (NIV) I had been reading a news article before I read my Bible that day, and it’s easy to see why that verse jumped out at me and sent me into the land of Nostalgia. Things are bad and so much is not working out. Time is moving but not much else is. Problems are mounting and solutions are few. So yes, I remember the days when prayers were answered; when miracles were popping all around me; when it was one...
Read more