Norman Vincent Peale once said:
The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress is the easiest type of existence.
To live in peace and in harmony is the best thing you can do for yourself. We stress and worry so much about our problems, but solutions never come when we are too busy worrying excessively.
Solutions come when we are calm and do not attach ourselves to our problems. We always say that when our problems are solved, we will feel at peace. But the great sages teach us the importance of finding inner peace first, which will then lead to our problems being solved.
We are conditioned to worry. Worries become our operating system. But there is another way – a way of peace and patience.
Here are nine things you can do to find inner peace:
1. Spend Time in Nature
Spend time in nature every day and connect to the peace and stillness that nature so gracefully embodies. Look at the trees, animals, mountains, oceans and you’ll discover that the world is so vast! In comparison, your worries are so insignificant in this vast sphere of things. Spending time around nature and animals helps to get in touch with the inner peace that resides within us.
Peace is always present. It is present everywhere we go, and it is just a matter of us slowing down enough to access the ever-present peace. The lap of Mother Nature is the perfect place to slow down and tap into this reservoir of inner peace.
2. Know Yourself
What causes worry and stress in our lives? The uncertainty and the unknown is what we are the most afraid of. We worry and stress because we do not know how things are going to turn out or what is going to happen.
Another factor we have to take into account is the massive size of the universe. We cannot ever know everything because the universe is vast and diverse. We can travel the whole world and learn many exciting things but alas we cannot know everything. It is then that we turn our attention from the world outside to within ourselves.
Within us is a world as vast and multi-dimensional. Hundreds of great sages meditate for months and years to explore the world within and know themselves, and it is for a good reason.
For one who knows himself, knows the world. All the worry and stress ceases when we know ourselves, and so self-knowledge leads to inner peace.
As Lao Tzu, a spiritual master says
He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.
3. Spiritual Practice
A spiritual practice is like a temple to which you return to every day to find your connection to the source of all life. Having a daily spiritual practice is an essential step in finding long-lasting inner peace.
It’s easy to feel peaceful when we are in a quiet environment. But the test of true inner peace is being able to stay in a state of inner peace when facing a challenging situation.
A daily spiritual practise helps us in finding inner peace that is steady and ever-present no matter what the circumstances. Find a daily practice that calls out to your soul. It can be a daily yoga practice, meditation practice, dance, chanting or anything else that makes you feel connected to life.
4. Let Go Of Control
Steve Maraboli said,
Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.
We lose our peace when we try to control things that we cannot control.
For example, we cannot control someone else’s behaviour whose behaviour bothers us but what we can control is our behaviour and choice to not interact with this person that will help us be more peaceful.
Trying to control external events and people is one of the biggest causes of distress and happiness. Instead, if we turn the focus inwards and control our behaviours and reactions, we will feel connected to our inner peace.
We must protect our peace more than anything else, for our peace is the key to a healthy and creative life. Letting go of things we cannot control is one of the best ways to find inner lasting peace. When we stop trying to control life too much, we come into harmony with life and living in harmony with life automatically gifts us with a sense of inner peace.
5. Be True To Yourself
The lies we tell ourselves are one of the biggest causes of distress within ourselves. When we are not honest with ourselves, we feel uneasy and disoriented. The first and primary relationship we have is with ourselves, and we need to make sure that this fundamental relationship is based on truth and honesty.
The important thing is that we are true to our inner self which naturally leads to a more profound sense of inner peace. When we are true to ourselves, we begin to trust ourselves deeper and cultivate a more profound sense of self-trust which also leads to deeper inner peace.
6. Attitude of Gratitude
As per Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.
Being grateful every day helps us remember that we are loved by life and that life always has our best interest only if we remain humble enough to see this. We often blame life and stress about things, but if we replace this with gratitude, we can find inner peace.
Gratitude opens our hearts and helps us cultivate inner lasting peace.
7. Help Others & Be Kind
When we help others, a sense of peace arises within us. This is because human beings are relational creatures and are built for community and togetherness. When we feel as though our presence in the world has helped others and others have benefitted from us, we naturally feel peaceful.
Germany Kent once said,
Be nice to people… maybe it’ll be unappreciated, unreciprocated, or ignored, but spread the love anyway. We rise by lifting others.
You can volunteer at an animal care centre or help a stranger out. The world needs your small acts of kindness which will also help you in finding inner peace as well as feeling a more profound sense of inner peace.
8. Be Assertive
Sometimes when you are too kind and giving, people may take advantage of that. Or you might make the mistake of sacrificing your own happiness for the sake of others. Being kind doesn’t mean sacrificing our own happiness! It means spreading joy and peace.
If we are not assertive, people can take advantage of that which leaves us feeling drained and sad. So be assertive, say no when you want to say no, say yes when you mean it and don’t be afraid to ask for what you need.
9. You Are What You Eat
If we eat junk food or food that makes us feel heavy or hyper, we lose our inner peace and feel more confused. Eating healthy and nourishing food will help you to feel lighter and more connected. Healthy foods are an excellent way to develop lasting inner peace.
Eat healthily and stay healthy should be our motto if we want to live a peaceful and healthy life.
Final Words
Finding inner peace is the key to living a joyful and creative life. Don’t compromise your peace for anything else. Protect your inner peace, for a peaceful life, is a life well-lived. With a peaceful mind and body, there is nothing we cannot endure.
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