Peace of mind

Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst. Lin Yutang

Just as a clear conscience is considered the best pillow to get a sound sleep, peace of mind is the best tonic for an adventurous spirit. When we are restless it is usually a sign of worry, anxiety and nervousness; and a restless being can never focus on anything because of the distractions that permeate his/ her mind. The antidote is peace of mind. While the cure is obvious, the medication is both complex and a bitter pill to swallow. Perhaps that accounts for the vast majority of us being restless, listless and depressed.

Look around and count the serene, happy and calm faces around you. You would be lucky to even spot one individual with all the three traits. You might hit pay dirt momentarily with one or two people who would exhibit these traits but maybe for sometime but rarely for the whole day. Why look so far; ask yourself I you are at peace with yourself. The realization might be painful but then so is an injection and hopefully the pain comes with a cure. It would help if we can identify the cause or source of our tensions for then we can address it and obviously then you can enjoy peace of mind.

If we dispassionately examine life around us, it is obvious that like the Chinese say there is Yin and Yang in equal measure around us. In effect it is complimentary opposites, like two sides of a coin/ male and female/ good and bad. This means that each of us will have to go through a cycle where there will be ups and downs, happiness and sadness, turbulence and calmness. Peace of mind comes about when we are able to maintain our feelings, our temper and our actions as close as possible to the median in our life. To explain further, neither be so excited by success that we forget there is failure nor be so despondent by failure that we cannot hope for happiness.

In most cases, it is our inability to accept the reality of failure, death, sadness and despair that leads us to a situation where we have lost our peace of mind. Constantly brooding over the past, fearfully living the present and anxiously awaiting the future are typical of those who have lost their peace of mind. What we forget is that Yin and Yang are there in equal measure and that the cycle of life keeps moving on so while happiness is a flavor that one can relish for a long time, unhappiness is not a bitter taste that will last for a very long time. Once we reconcile to the reality that what cannot be changed has to be accepted, what can be changed will change and that life is an adventure that unfolds everyday, we can be relaxed, calm and blissful in the knowledge that we have to enjoy the moment.

Remember: Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind – Buddha

Try This:

1. Write down you worries. Write each worry on a separate sheet of paper. Fold each paper into four and put all the papers into a big envelope and seal the envelope. After six months open the envelope and add new worries but before that examine the old ones and those that have quietly slipped by can be torn and thrown away. Soon you will find that the envelope has very few things that will make you lose your peace of mind.
2. Are there irritants in your life that annoy you a lot? It could be a pesky neighbor, a next door pet like a dog that keeps barking most of the time, it could be an irritating colleague, possibly it is the long and tiring daily commute to and from work or it could be guilty gnawing away at your conscience. Force yourself to look at the good thing about these irritants. See what are the advantages provide by the irritants. Ask if your irritants are self inflicted like guilt. Perhaps by seeing things in different perspective you feel less anxious and calmer.

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