Early on in my adult life, I always had an awareness of the importance of inner peace. It was something I knew I wanted to obtain for myself because I knew I did not have it. Well, at least not consistently. Whenever a situation would occur that would disturb my peace it would affect me deeply. It was hard for me to keep a stable thought. My mind would only be focused on that situation. It was constant chatter in my brain that I couldn’t turn off that would then affect me physically. I wouldn’t eat due to me not having an appetite. I didn’t want to go out or do anything which meant I couldn’t enjoy the present moment or have any type of fun.
The situation would have my whole undivided attention and it would take days, sometimes weeks to pull myself out of it. I was unable to remain grounded. I was a hot mess and I knew I didn’t want to continue like that. So, learning how to maintain and master my inner peace became one of my biggest goals. I have always been a very proactive person when it comes to my goals. Once I decide upon something I go at it full throttle and accomplish whatever I set my mind to, so although this was an internal job I knew it would be no different. I wasn’t fully sure at the time all it would take to reach such inner peace, but I was up for the challenge. I knew that with all the tenacity I would put into obtaining my external goals, I could apply that same intensity to my internal ones. And the journey began.
It took me several years to learn and apply these methods. I became a student of inner peace and absorbed as much knowledge as I could on this subject. Also, with the understanding that humans are programmable beings I knew that I was going to have to do some de-programming of certain beliefs and lifestyle habits to reach my destination. These are the top five practices that I incorporated to create a new lifestyle and shift my internal being to master my inner peace.
Released control – One of the major lessons I’ve learned thus far is that I am only in control of myself. I am the controller of my thoughts, how I feel and my behavior. I cannot control other people or outer circumstances. I can only control my response to such things and people. I discovered that this is way more beneficial to my well-being because it was draining when I would try to control other people and situations. It’s just not possible. I understood that everyone has the right to be and do whatever they please and it has nothing to do with me. So instead of trying to control them, I just choose if I want to continue interacting with them and if so, how I wish to engage with them. This is liberating to myself and others because I honor myself and be and do as I choose and allow others to do the same.
Living unconditionally – I realized that I was a very conditional person. How I felt depended upon the conditions that surrounded me. If traffic was good; I was happy. If it was bad; I was upset. If my children did as I told them to; I was happy. If they did not; I would be frustrated. If I had money; I would feel at peace. If I didn’t; I felt anxious. I was on a daily emotional roller-coaster ride. I first learned about living an unconditional lifestyle after watching countless Esther Hicks videos and one day it just clicked for me. I discovered that if I wanted to experience unconditional joy, peace, love, excitement and happiness that I had to stop giving so much of my emotional energy to the conditions that surrounded me. I then learned more about being a vibrational being and that my surroundings or conditions are typically responding to my vibration (or energetic field). The vibration that I’m emitting is based off what I dominantly think and feel. This showed me the importance of living unconditionally and instead of letting my conditions influence my mood, I would allow my mood to influence my conditions.
Directing my focus – This is a powerful one. I have come to know that focus and attention is a gift from the universe. I have such an appreciation for the fact that in every moment I get to choose what I focus upon. This kind of goes hand in hand with living unconditionally. Once I decided to start living the unconditional lifestyle I began to shift my focus from my current circumstances. That included everything and everyone. Although my physical senses are aware of what’s happening before me; instead of focusing on it, I now shift my focus only to those things that I desire and the changes I would like to see take place. I acknowledge what is happening in my current reality but instead of dwelling on it, I use it as an opportunity to focus and create a solution rather than focusing on the problem.
Maintaining my alignment with Source – My relationship with Source/The Universe is my most important relationship. This is what keeps me grounded. It keeps me in a place of knowing that all things are working out for me at all times, even if it looks like it’s not. Meditation is my best friend and I’ve come to find that nighttime is the best time to meditate for me. Meditation doesn’t always mean sitting quietly for me. I enter a state of meditation while I’m reading an inspiring or thought-provoking book/article. I can also enter a meditative state while watching an eye-opening video. I make sure that I feed my spirit daily so that my energetic frequency remains at a high point. I am able to see the bigger picture or higher perspective of things by maintaining my connection to Source. This way I am not getting bogged down by what’s going on around me and am aware that there’s always a bigger plan at play.
I gave up people-pleasing – This is another big one for me. I have always been natural born helper. I feel great satisfaction knowing I can be of service to others. However, this became one of my downfalls because I would often find myself doing things for other’s just to keep them happy despite how I was feeling. This would leave me feeling very resentful towards them when it was really my fault for not honoring myself. I wanted to make people happy which meant often putting other people’s needs before my own. Long story short, I put an end to that. I now assist others when they first and foremost try to assist themselves (we each much discover ourselves and our path). That may sound a bit selfish but honestly I must be in order to maintain my own peace and happiness if I am to assist anyone. So now when I help people I no longer feel resentful and can fully feel that sense of satisfaction. We can save no others until we save ourself first.
The road to mastering my inner peace has been an exciting journey. It may seem foreign to some as they may look at me and think that I don’t care about much of anything which is totally not the case. I care about many things. I just know a better way of handling life and stressful situations now and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Peace and Love, Jim
