At the beginning of the year I wrote about my annual Happiness Project, and in the month of August I am focusing on peace.  I want to breathe in calmness each morning so that my day is peaceful.  We all have peace inside us and here are the seven methods that I was able to use to bring peace into my life every day.

Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

1. Slow Down so Peace can Enter our Lives

The first step is to slow down.  When you are sitting at the stoplight on your way into work really look at the glorious sunrise or admire the distinctive skyline as you crest the hill of the city you work in.  Each day we are given ample opportunities to be in awe of the beautiful world around us but we need to slow down and take notice. 

We need to be fully in the present moment. Not mulling about the past or worried about the future, these are peace killers and only cause undue stress.  Slowing down reduces the stress we have in our lives as we consciously refocus our attention on what is truly important. 

When we slow down we can get clarity.  Only when we are mindful and in the present moment can we unclutter our mind full of thoughts.  As we get clear on what we want, and define our goals, can we then make clear and decisive decisions to move forward. Slowing down has great benefits to our bodies and our minds.

The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress is the easiest type of existence.  ~Norman Vincent Peale

2. Make Space for Peace by De-cluttering

Clutter is a negative and makes us feel bad when we see it.  Disorder is a reflection of our internal selves.  The messier our homes are the messier our internal lives are.  Why is it that when we take something out, if it was even in the place it is supposed to be, we do not put it away?  It can’t be that we don’t have the time, because it takes longer to search for something then it does to put it away so we can easily find it the next time we need it. 

Untidiness is distracting.  Maybe this is why our homes our disorganized.  Perhaps, we want distractions so we don’t deal with the matters of our lives that need dealt with.  Last year I de-cluttered my entire house, or at least those areas I was responsible for, and in doing so other parts of my life became organized.  What surrounds us is a reflection of what is inside us.  De-clutter so make space for peace. 

Peace is liberty in tranquility.  ~Marcus Tullius Cicero

3. Set Boundaries to Maintain Peace

Setting boundaries can be a difficult process if you are like me, a recovering people pleaser.  As a child of an alcoholic, I learned at a very young age that keeping my mother calm was in the best interest of the household. But years later I was still allowing her to wreak havoc in my emotional life by taking her phone calls when she was drinking, because I was trying to “honor my mother”.  I came to realize that I was to honor her but not at the cost of my own peace or health.  I stopped taking her calls, changed to an unlisted phone number (remember those) and had less anxiety in my life when the phone rang.

Saying “no” to someone is an act of compassion for all involved. Before making a conscience decision to only do those things that I enjoyed or spend time with people I liked, I did a lot of things so people would like me.  Then I would complain, a negative act, about my helping out to others which did not honor the service I did for the other person.  If your heart is not into going to an event with someone or helping them move, then let them know that you are not available.  This way you are not taking your time to dishonor your service or spreading negative energy. 

Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace. ~ Dalai Lama

4. Take Time for Yourself

My husband works midnight shift with rotating days off- it is crazy.  The upside of this schedule is that we each get alone time.  We like are alone time.  He can work on projects and not be interrupted or play his bass guitar full blast without bothering me.  I can read or garden or take an online class without feeling that I am not spending the time with him.  It works out perfectly for us.

Soon his schedule will change and we will be both on the same shift.  Yeah, lots of togetherness in our future.  We have actually discussed this and have agreed that we still both need our time apart to pursue those activities that the other does not take part in.  For example, I will continue to go to book club twice a month as well as my writing group every other week.  This means that he will have time at home without me- so it works out for both of us.

Alone time is an important part of our self-care plans.  It allows us time to recharge and reflect on where we want our live to go.  A weekly bubble bath, a monthly girls/guys night out, a creative day are all ways that we recharge so that we can continue to give from a place of fulfillment instead of pulling from a place of emptiness.  Time for oneself is important to finding lasting peace.

Peace is its own reward.  ~Mahatma Gandhi

5. Let Go to Attract Peace

Holding onto the past does not allow the present to be lived and peace only occurs in the now.  Whether it is old material possessions or negative memories that keep us in the past the only way forward is to let them go.  Releasing the memories, hurt feelings, and pain first requires that we take responsibility for our current situation.  We made decisions and choices that got us to this place in life and if we blame others we have given up our power to change and therefore our power to regain our peace.

Once we have taken responsibility we are empowered to consciously choose to change our mind set so that we begin to attract the peace we want in our lives.  Peace is a positive state of being.  This means that we have to choose to feel happy.  Feelings our not thrust upon us by others, we can choose how we feel.  No one makes us angry, we choose to get mad at them for something they did, we could easily have chosen to believe that they were being senseless and forgive them.  Why give them the power to take away your peace.  No one on this planet has the power to take away my peace unless I give it to them, and why would anyone choose to give up their peace of mind?

Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be. ~Wayne W. Dyer

6. Be Present to Experience Peace

As previously stated, peace only happens in the present moment because that is where we live our lives.  Our lives are happing at this instant in time.  The past is gone and the future is what we make of it.  We cannot add peace to the past and we cannot propel it into our future, peace happens at this present moment.  For more on being present I recommend, Eckhart Tolle’s excellent book, The Power of Now.

When we are being present, we are fully conscious and aware to what is happening at this moment in time that we find ourselves in.  We are not mulling over the conversation we had yesterday (in the past) with our boss.  Nor are we worried about the next meeting (in the future) we are having later this week.  This moment I am typing and only thinking about writing this article to help you find peace based on what has worked for me.  This moment you are reading this article (thank you) and learning simple methods that you can do to fill your life with peace.  The present is here, in the now, fully aware and conscious. 

You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level. ~Eckhart Tolle

7. Be Authentic & Peaceful

Authenticity is when we make a conscious decision to be ourselves.  Not what others want us to be, not what others expect us to be, but what we truly are, our genuine selves.  When we decide to just be ourselves and not be concerned with others opinions, peace engulfs us.  Peace is a gift from the Divine.  When we are truly ourselves the Divine within us unites with the Universe and that connect is part of our true state of being.  Peace is meant to be part of our daily lives if we allow it.

I have spent most of my life with the incessant chattering of negativity from my ego inside my head.  It is this voice that tells us we are unworthy, which is a lie.   The egoic voice is the one that tries to take away our internal Divine peace.  When I started taking yoga it helped my meditation practice and I was able to turn off the babbling of my ego.  When I wrote in my journal about this I realized how much peace I felt day in and day out despite the normal daily tasks and annoyances that occur.  I also realized that the peace had always been there I just was not focused on it, I was choosing to focus on the stress and anxiety I was creating.  Choose to be authentically you.  Choose peace.

We don’t realize that, somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme self who is eternally at peace.  ~Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

As you become more mindful of the clutter in your life and become conscious about your mindsets you can adjust the course of your life.  If you would like to receive more informative and mindful articles right into your mailbox fill this out now.

Do you need support in overcoming the clutter in your life?  Do you want a strategy to help you create a peaceful life?  If so please, contact me and we can put together an action plan for you to be authentically you and for you to know that every day peace.