11 Responses to “Peace”

1. Laban Johnson
   December 4th, 2008 @ 8:47 pm

   Peace, to me, is the absence of worries, contentment. It often comes accompanied by joy.

2. Maria
   December 4th, 2008 @ 10:06 pm

   It may be Kashoo Tawseef that said the above quote: http://www.countercurrents.org/tawseef201107.htm

   A peace break can be taken at any moment. One can always close ones eyes and come back to oneself. Take a deep breath and smile inside and just let go of all the worries, if only for a moment. Just let them go. Believe me, the ones that count will come back again. You wont lose them! lol But you could gain a deep and rewarding practice of getting in touch with your true self that is beyond all the surface storms of the day to day, laying down the path that hopefully peace will want to come and walk along more often.

   I’ve found that Thich Nhat Hanh’s books have helped me realize far more peace in my own life (well, alongside my own broad lifelong search).

3. Jim Hughes
   December 4th, 2008 @ 10:20 pm

   I like the “unknown” definition because it recognizes that our lives will never be without stuff that can cause turmoil.

   Jim Hughess last blog post..Statements Grievers Would Rather Not Hear

4. imelda
   December 5th, 2008 @ 9:01 am

   Thank you Maria, Laban and Jim for your comments.

   I am looking for peace. I did try just the minute of calmness and boy did that feel good. I have a few Thich Nhat Hanh Books I’m going to go pull out and read again. Thanks for the suggestion. His name is coming up a lot in my life lately.

5. mh.
   December 5th, 2008 @ 10:13 am

   We just finished talking about peace in our last Political Psychology class. I thought that was strange since I just came back from this class to find this. We talked about peace after conflict though and not an internal type of peace.

   mh.s last blog post..The Arches At Night.

6. Hilary
   December 5th, 2008 @ 10:37 am

   The three things I’ve learned in my life about peace so far…

   1. Major circumstances matter the MOST. If I’m in horrible mismatch of marriage or job, nothing else is going to save me. Or if I have a major health issue, or a diagnosis like clinical depression. Other factors can only somewhat mitigate the damaging circumstances. Solution: address the biggest problems first and address them radically. Major horrible circumstances require major changes.

   2. Second most important is how well/smoothly I’m managing my daily life. Staying ahead of deadlines, getting things done, managing money and time effectively, etc. I can’t be at peace when I hate myself because I can’t get to work on time in the morning. Solution: find and implement effective systems. MUCH easier when you’re not being weighed down by #1 issues, so wait on this till #1 changes settle out.

   3. Finally, attitude. Best tools for peace that I have gotten from books: The Work of Byron Katie, the Sedona Method, the Four Agreements, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers, the Constructive Living Handbook, and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (a golden oldie by Dale Carnegie). The Secret by Rhonda Byrnes is also helpful. Most of these self-help methods can get a little crazy/fanatical if you do them 24/7, so I use them in moderation.

   I know a lot of self-help gurus say to put #3 first and then somehow everything else will be okay. That is not my personal experience. #3 can be used to jump-start the other changes and help reassure you through them, and they are great for fine-tuning for peace. But I still had to do #1 and #2.

   And yeah, my level of peace and happiness in my life is greater than it has EVER been, and I am so glad to be able to say that.

   FWIW, YMMV, etc. :)

7. Katherine
   December 5th, 2008 @ 3:45 pm

   I believe that to act in peace causes peace in our hearts.

   The Prayer of St. Francis:
   Lord, make me a channel of thy peace;
   that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
   that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
   that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
   that where there is error, I may bring truth;
   that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
   that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
   that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
   that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
   Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
   to understand, than to be understood;
   to love, than to be loved.
   For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
   It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
   It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
   Amen.

8. Keith
   December 5th, 2008 @ 4:20 pm

   Please read Conversations With God, by Neale Donald Walsch. It has changed my life, for the WAY-better!

9. Dr. Ding
   December 5th, 2008 @ 6:48 pm

   I’d like to be flip and say “All I need for inner peace is a well-made martini and a jar of glitter” but that just isn’t true. For inner peace, I’d also need a can a spray cheese and the knowledge that my shoes look killer bee.

   I kid!

   I feel the greatest sense of peace when I can really be fully present to the moment by stilling my thoughts. When I allow my thoughts to pass by like leaves floating on a river, I begin to get a glimpse of my true nature. These moments are sometimes difficult to achieve during everyday life, and often I have to sit myself down Zen-style and slow my breathing in order to immerse myself in this ocean of beingness.

   That said, I feel a deep, joyful calm when I take a nap with my dog and she nuzzles my face. Even just 20 minutes really refreshes, no Zen required.

   Wishing you abundant and refreshing peace this season,
   Dr. Ding

   Dr. Dings last blog post..Does This WiiFit Make My Ass Look Big?

10. Angela Schmeidel Randall
    December 6th, 2008 @ 9:08 pm

    I agree with much of what Hilary said.

    In my experience, the elephants in the room had to be addressed in a brave and honest manner before I could even venture down the road to happiness and peace. I thought my decisions would either make me a million times happier and that my mind could be at peace, or that they’d kill me. (I felt fairly sure it was going to be the latter, because I couldn’t fathom the former.)

    I realized I’d hit the point of no return one evening in the bath tub. Every step after that was just putting one foot in front of the other, day after day, relentlessly heading down the path of no return.

    (I find that I think quite well in the bath tub and highly recommend all major decisions be made there. I hear, too, Alan Greenspan used to make federal reserve policy from the comfort of his bath. If it’s good enough for us, then…)

    Anyway back to the matter at hand: while my choices were no walk in the park, eventually those choices, along with copious amounts of therapy, helped me find the peace and happiness I so desired. I never fail to marvel how different my life is today versus before the day I sat in the bath and made those crucial decisions. I guess you could say I made the choice to be happy and find peace.

    What’s the choice you can make today that will be the first step down your path?

    Angela Schmeidel Randalls last blog post..If the world were a logical place, men would ride side saddle.

11. Imelda Bettinger » Archive » The Four Agreements
    January 28th, 2009 @ 6:58 pm

    [...] have recently finished ready The Four Agreements after my friend Hilary suggested in a comment to a previous post. I gave the book as a gift to my sister about 10 years ago but never asked her if she read it or [...]

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