Claiming Back Your Inner Peace

“Peace comes from within.  Do not seek it without.”
― Gautama Buddha

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Inner peace is something we are all entitled to, but all feel at some time or another we have had to fight against the world to achieve.  The first part of the problem is allowing the world to control and influence us right to our core.
The journey towards inner peace starts with a choice, the choice to accept and use our own power over our lives.  This is important because it sets the intention and the goal  It gives us something to visualise and aim for in our lives – in every aspect of our lives.  Once we have made this choice the next step is potentially harder, but no less vital.
Trust.  If we spend our lives doubting our abilities or decisions they will always be lacking.  Beyond this though any inner peace you might have will be overwhelmed by doubt and insecurity.  We all have the tools we need to tackle any life situation, all it takes is a little trust from ourselves.  Judgements, both our own and others, can also block inner peace.  Whether they’ve come from us or from someone else it is us who gives them permission to affect us.  When anyone judges anyone they only judge based on their own life, they have no idea about anything else – making their judgements useless, and only as powerful as you decide you want to make them.

Past experiences can haunt us, disrupting efforts for a more peaceful existence.  Nullifying the negativity and pain is essential and the answers to this lie like many great truths in the ancient world.  One answer was developed by Socrates and the Ancient Greek Stoics in particular.  Self-questioning, observing and asking why:

• Why does that make me feel like that?
• What triggers this feeling?
• What does this feeling do to me?
• Why am I letting this happen?

As we question ourselves we begin to understand what we’ve been doing to ourselves, and to break the circle of negative thoughts once and for all.  Taking the experience as a lesson and being grateful for what it has taught you renders the experience less and less powerful until the memory is just another memory.  Mindfulness, developed by Eastern cultures, especially by Buddhism, is another vital tool.  Doing things mindfully, giving yourself fully and only to the awareness of the task you are doing, gives you space away from pain and negativity.  It gives you space but also time to reflect impartially on it as thoughts and realisations float freely through your cleared mind.
As I have said previously gratitude is also an exceptional way to deal with negativity, letting us learn and grow – embracing all things with positivity.  As we embrace our power over ourselves and remove the stumbling blocks we learn how to stop falling but bound high into inner peace and a life lived at our full capacity.
Love and blessings,
Susan xx
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