Peace

“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” Eckhart Tolle –The Power of Now

I used to say to my children when they were young,…..”Just give me five minutes peace!”  Of course that never seemed to happen because I was always looking for peace outside of myself and not within.

How often do we say, “I can’t wait to have a break from work” or “I can’t wait to go somewhere far away from family and the stress of life”.  The fact is, the turmoil and anxiety that we are trying to escape from are within us, so how do we actually get away from it?

Having a holiday or retreat is a great way to disconnect from the day-to-day stress and it sometimes puts a different perspective on situations, helping us understand how to balance the busyness of our life but when we only believe peace can come from having a holiday or from disconnecting from normal life, it will always be short-lived.

When you return from the tranquility of your getaway holiday, what you find is that the world is still spinning, the kids are still wanting your attention and everything you left is waiting for you and so, it doesn’t take long to get caught back in it all over again.

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.  Mother Theresa

Finding deep peace, is making a conscious decision each day to let go and to be accepting of all situations that present themselves.  Instead of reaching for a glass of wine or cigarette to calm you, you only need to practice stillness and breathe.

By practicing daily meditation and breathing you will connect to your inner peace.  It will balance your life and you will gain self-control, more discipline, and the ability not to let outside events influence your emotions, actions, reactions and decisions.  You will find that what used to stress you lessens and you will find you have more patience with those around you and more time for yourself.

Making small steps each day to help connect you to inner peace, you will feel more calm  amongst the chaos and even though you will still look forward to a holiday or break, you will not live every moment waiting for it.

“Peace comes from within.  Do not seek it without.” – Siddhartha Gautama