Find your peace in quiet places that speak to you. Sometimes the world is cruel, and we need to take a break from all the noise and craziness. Cover yourself in love and nature’s beauty, and don’t forget to breathe. Tomorrow is another day.
“Lose yourself in nature and find peace.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Don’t let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” ~ Dalai Lama
In a world that sometimes makes no sense, and even seems to have gone mad, it’s so important to find that quiet place. A place of calmness, safety, and beauty. A place to restore our sanity.
This quiet place can exist in the mind. Close your eyes and take a mini break from work, and a hectic life. Just breathe, and maybe envision a peaceful scene where stress doesn’t live.
An actual tiny oasis can be created outdoors with a few potted plants and a small fountain. Water is always very soothing to the soul. Or maybe just sit outside and watch the show nature can provide.
The important thing is “Balance,” and finding a way back to it. Constant stress is a killer no matter what kind of stress it is. The body needs love and care to more than just survive. It needs to thrive.
In taking care of ourselves we can do a much better job taking care of our loved ones, and even showing kindness and care to those we don’t know. When we feel peace everyone around us feels it too.
“Each Life needs its own quiet place.” ~ Melody Beattie
With so much aggression and turmoil in this world, try and practice peace everyday in your world. If you can’t smooth that frown away and replace it with a smile, at least try and keep your anger down the best you can. Hard to do when you are not having a good day and feeling upset, but so important.
We can’t control what happens in the world, but we can control how it affects us, and not be adding more hostility loose in this world. Also, if we get depressed or angry we have allowed that turmoil and the aggression going on to enter what should be our peaceful kingdom. Pema Chodron says we should ask ourselves, “Am I going to practice peace, or am I going to war?” If we don’t practice that peace we will be going to war with someone, maybe even ourselves.
Try always to stay present. Look for the beauty and goodness in nature, in things, and the people all around. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we should be accepting of our differences. Diversity is a good thing, and should not be something to fear. We add our aggression into the overflowing angry world by not being peaceful in ours. We all control what we put out.
Richard Carlson wrote a book called, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … and It’s All Small Stuff. I have found this to be so true. In the past, most of the things I got angry about were just silly stuff that if given a few hours or a day I would have figured it out instead of acting out.
Remember, each peaceful thought that all of us can have will bring balance to our currently unbalanced world.
Yes, it’s time for Peace.
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know Peace.” ~ Jimi Hendrix
But peace won’t come until real Change starts to happen, and we can actually feel and see it taking shape.
“You have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
~ Harriet Tubman
Something will still be missing for peace to come and that is Healing.
“There is force in the universe, which if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
This force is the Healing we and our planet so need before peace will come.
Change, Healing, Peace. This will be hard for some because it’s a different way of thinking and living.
Start by emptying all the misinformation stuck in the brain that has been passed on from generation to generation. Look at life with a new perspective. Practice forgiveness, acceptance and humility. Open the door and let love in to banish hate for good. And get rid of fear. Many times when we don’t understand something or someone we fear it and pass on negative judgments.
Just like the picture of the flowering strawberries above, we too are ready for renewal that will lead us to Peace. So let’s begin.
“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” ~ Mark Twain
Make this the year that you decide to forgive. But in doing so, don’t forget to forgive yourself. I think it’s actually easier to forgive others than ourselves, but it’s just as important.
I’ve written about forgiveness probably many times and that’s because I believe it’s a very important step for a happy and balanced life. And I think it’s a great way to begin each year.
Think about this beautiful quote by Mark Twain and envision being a violet and giving out to the universe the fragrance of forgiveness. You will be so much more at peace with yourself if you do.
“The moon has awoken with the sleep of the sun. The light has been broken, the spell has begun.” ~ Midgard Morningstar
Allow yourself to flow into the darkness of winter and feel the light within you of kindness for all. This is a time for great reflection and gratitude. May you all find peace and beauty surrounding you, and may the holidays bring you together with the people you love and hold so dear.
Let spring bring forth a renewal of peace and joy into our lives, lifting us up to be better humans and kinder toward those beings who share our journey.
Take a moment and think how you can renew yourself to become the person you were meant to be. Only you define “You.” Don’t ever let others take that right and responsibility from you.
We can all do with a fresh start.
“If you watch how nature deals with adversity, continually renewing itself, you can’t help but learn.” ~ Bernie Siegel MD
“Make peace with the present moment.” ~ Eckhart Tolle
It’s a busy time of the year and we can find ourselves running wild everywhere. No time to sit and think and even meditate. Tempers can get out of hand, expectations are high on demand, and depression can always find a way in.
Let’s sit down and take a deep breath, concentrating on our breathing. That’s right, make peace with whatever is happening in this very moment. We may not like it, and want to fight it, but let’s not. It’s just our ego wanting conflict–especially at times when there should be joy and peace. By just stopping whatever we’re doing, we give our Spirit the chance to come forward and take over, setting our world right once again.
Sometimes the moments of our lives are wonderful, and then there are those times that are just awful. We want to escape during bad times, but we really can’t, and we make ourselves miserable. The more we struggle the worst we feel.
We can’t change what’s happening in the present moment, but we can always change our attitude toward it. By taking a moment to slow down, or better yet, meditate, we put ourselves in charge and bring balance once again to our lives.
Don’t let the season get out of hand. Slow down, and enjoy the simplicity of just being.
“Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” ~ Eleanor Brown
How many of you actually take care of yourselves? Hello there… anybody? Are you constantly running around and bouncing here and there like a ping-pong ball? I know that I once was, but not anymore—at least for the most part. I used to be so crazy busy and stressed out that you could have attached my head to jumper cables and received quite a charge!
All this running around taking care of people and making deadlines etc. didn’t have to be so crazy if I would have believed in the word, “No,” and practiced better self-care. Yoga, meditation, taking a walk, swimming, etc. Whatever calms you down and brings peace to you will work. But not drinking too much wine and stress eating. Yes, I confess, that is how I used to handle stress.
I know it’s hard to think of yourself when you have so much responsibility, but if you don’t take care of yourself then who will? And what’s going to happen to everyone and everything that’s depending on you if you get sick? A stressful life can make you very sick. Self-care isn’t something that’s selfish, or trendy. Self-care is something that is necessary for a balanced life.
When you are living through a nerve-racking time in your life, then that is just when you need to take a step back and think about what’s right for you. You need to be mindful of the choices you’re making and how they are affecting your overall health now and into the future.
It helps if you get yourself in the habit of self-care on a daily basis before you find yourself in a stressful situation. This way, you will know how to handle the horrible way you are feeling and de-stress before you get sick.
Remember, cheating yourself is going to cheat those that love you. Don’t beat yourself up all the time. Take a break and enjoy this life of yours.
“Every person carries the seed of enlightenment within.” ~ Eckhart Tolle
It’s there inside of you just waiting and wanting to come out. Sometimes you have to dig deep because ego has been guarding the entrance to the Spirit. Once you find it, bring the seed into the light and allow it to grow strong. Ego will become smaller and smaller with each growing day, and soon peace and happiness will fill and light the way.
Life as a Garden 