In life, we often strive for a certain set of conditions—happiness, health, success, etc. But one that’s often overlooked is peace! What if peace is an underlying goal in all of those things? Pure joy in our lives, having a clean bill of health, and being able to excel in what we do are all things that create peace. How else can we make peace a priority in our everyday lives? Look no further than this post for some powerful examples, including both mindset shifts and actions as usual!
1- Place your trust in things working out the way they’re meant to.
I write about this topic a lot, for good reason. Having trust in yourself, the process, a higher power / force, etc. naturally results in greater peace. We don’t have to understand why things are happening the way they are in the moment. In fact, we may never fully understand. However, things should slowly start to make more sense as life goes on. For a whole blog post on the importance of trust, head to Trust and Have Faith in These 5 Things to Change Your Life!
2- Stay grounded in the present.
While it’s normal and natural to reflect on the past, and it can be a good thing when done constructively, it’s important not to stay stuck in it. Constantly looking backwards from a place of dwelling is only going to disrupt your peace. You may miss certain aspects of the past, but if they aren’t returning, the best you can do is find new, healthy ways to recreate those feelings in present day. For instance, say you miss an ex of yours who you know isn’t right for you. Romanticizing that relationship isn’t going to change the reality of the situation- it’s only going to hurt you more. All you need to know is that if by some chance, it’s meant to be in the future, it will be. If it’s not, something so much better is in store! In order to stay grounded in the present, focus on creating great new memories with people well-suited for you. That may not include a romantic partner just yet, but that’s okay! To reference the first point again, TRUST that it will, and that everything happened how it needed to.
Just like we shouldn’t dwell on the past, we also shouldn’t dwell on the future. For instance, if you’re always worried about not finding romantic love, that’s not going to bring you peace. What will do that for you, on the other hand, is investing that energy into creating a life you love while TRUSTING that you’ll have romantic love when the time, and person, are right.
The common theme here is making the present count, because that’s truly all you can control. Peace comes from not trying to exert control we don’t have, but rather controlling what we can and trusting that the rest will work itself out.
3- Set boundaries with people as needed.
When someone disrupts your peace, it doesn’t always automatically mean they’re not right for you. Emphasis on the “doesn’t always”! Sometimes it’s a matter of miscommunication or them simply not knowing how their behavior affects you. By communicating your feelings and boundaries, this allows the people who truly have your best interest at heart to act accordingly. We can’t blame someone for upsetting us when they had no way of knowing that their behavior would upset us. All we can do is observe how they operate after we communicate this. That segues into the next point…
4- Remove influences from your life who disrupt your peace consistently, particularly if there’s a lack of respect or consideration.
Letting go of relationships isn’t always easy or ideal, especially those closest to you. However, sometimes it’s necessary for your mental wellbeing. When someone is crossing your boundaries after you’ve directly and explicitly set them, the best way to protect your peace is to let them go.
Also, if you follow people on social media whose content disrupts your peace, there’s nothing wrong with unfollowing them (or at least muting them if you don’t want to completely cut ties / rock the boat). They may not even be doing anything wrong—they’re not disrespecting you or anything of the sort. Maybe they don’t even know you, or even if they do, they’d have no responsibility to consider you or reason to think their content would negatively affect you. At the end of the day, though, it is negatively affecting you, which is reason enough to remove it from your feed. The content we consume is more powerful than we often realize, making it important for us to consume wisely.
5- Declutter and organize regularly.
I have a blog post on each of these topics, so go check them out! (Decluttering Tips + 6 Things to Declutter for Your Spring Cleaning and 3 Simple Ways to Stay Organized, Starting With Your Mind). In a nutshell, though, the more organized we are, and the less we have overwhelming us, the more at peace we can be. We can simplify our lives so much by sorting through what we have and eliminating what we don’t need. (As per the last point, those eliminations can include relationships—in-person and digital—that are only weighing us down). By doing these things periodically, we’re preventing a lot of stress and protecting our peace!
The bottom line…
Being at peace is an underrated blessing that should be at the forefront of our decision-making. If something (whether it be a habit, thought pattern, relationship, physical belonging, etc.) is causing us unnecessary stress, why keep it around? Life inevitably gets hard at times, but if something is making it hard for no good reason, let it go! Your peace will thank you!