Tips and Advice For Attaining Peace of Mind
What Exactly Is Peace of Mind?
Peace of mind is a state of mental and emotional calmness, with no worries, fears or stress. How awesome is that? In this state, the mind is quiet, and you experience a sense of happiness and freedom.
We think that such peaceful moments are rare, but they may not be as rare as you think they are. We have experienced them in the past, at times when we were engaged in some kind of an absorbing or interesting activity. Here are a few examples:
~Watching a non-stressful movie or TV program.
~Being in the company of someone you enjoy.
~Being absorbed in reading a book or article.
~Lying or taking a casual walk on the sand at the beach.
~On vacation, when you experience some sort of mental numbness, forgetting your work and your day-to-day-life.
~In deep sleep, REM, when you are not aware of anything.
Such activities, and other similar ones, help to take away the mind from its usual thoughts and worries, replacing them with a calming experience of inner peace. The polar opposite of a Wall Street trading experience.
The question is then ... how do we bring more peace of mind into our life, and more importantly, how to experience it in times of difficulties and ordeals. How to stay UP and peaceful during the storms and tempests we face.
You might also ask, whether it is possible to turn it into a habit, and enjoy it always and under all circumstances. Truth be told, there are a few things that you can do to actually enjoy more peace in your life.
Tips and Advice
~Minimize the time you spend on reading newspapers or watching the news on TV. Since most of the news is negative news, and you cannot do anything about it anyway, why should you think about it and feel stressed and anxious?
~Stay away from negative conversations and from negative people and situations. You don't want their thoughts and words to sink into your subconscious mind and affect your own moods and your state of mind.
~Don't hold grudges. Learn to forget and forgive. Nurturing ill feelings and grievances hurts you and causes lack of sleep. Forgiveness releases you of the burden and the debt. It isn't for the other person(s).
~Don't be jealous of others. Jealousy means that you have low self-esteem, and therefore, consider yourself inferior to others. Jealousy and low self esteem, often, lead to a definite lack of peace of mind.
~Accept what cannot be changed. This saves a lot of time, energy and worries. Every day, we face numerous inconveniences, irritations and situations that are beyond our control. If we can change them, that's fine, but this is not always possible. We must learn to put up with such things and accept them cheerfully. We must learn to say it just is.
~Don't dwell on the past. The past is not here anymore, so why think about it? Let bygones be gone. Forget the past and focus on the present moment. There is no need to evoke unpleasant memories and get immersed in them.
Learn to be more patient and tolerant with family, friends, co-workers, employees, and everyone else.
~Don't take everything so personally. A certain degree of emotional and mental detachment is extremely helpful. On many occasions, it would be useful to inject a certain measure of detachment and non involvement. This would bring into your life more peace, harmony and common sense.
~Learn to focus your mind. When you can focus your mind, you can more easily reject worries and anxieties, refuse to think negative thoughts, and reduce the constant monkey-chatter of your mind and ego.
~Meditation is awesome but not everyone has interest in it. But if you have the time, and are willing to try it, even just a few minutes a day will make a huge difference in your life. You will become more peaceful, relaxed and happy. People have practiced meditation for tens of thousands of years.
Inner peace eventually, leads to external peace. By creating peace in your inner world, in your mind, you bring it into your external world, and as a positive side effect ... you also bring it into other people's lives.
Peace of Mind in Daily Life
Learn to free your mind from stress, worries and negative thoughts, and you can enjoy a state of inner peace in your everyday life. Practicing these lessons, even for just a few minutes a day, will calm your restless mind and create inner peace in your life.
Just a thought ...
~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.
My thanks to Remez Sasson
