Peace Be with You

Peace of mind and peace of heart come usually as the result of decisions that we make.  And more often than not, that decision is simply to drop (or not to drop) something.  To drop it out of our minds and leave it be while we move on to more productive and healthy and helpful thoughts and pursuits.

Two family members and I were treated extremely rudely by a man at a car dealership recently.  There’s no need to go into details, but we ended up walking out of the place after spending two hours with two other people trying to make a deal on a car.  This third person came and treated us very rudely, and we felt it best to leave.  We weren’t going to let that man ruin our peace of mind, though–-even though it would have been quite easy to stew and steam all day long at his mistreatment.  We simply moved on to another dealership where we (fortunately) weren’t treated poorly, bought a car there, and left behind the rudeness and the insulting behavior.

Did someone insult you recently?  Well, that says more about them than it says about you, so leave it behind and keep your peace of mind!  Did you lose something valuable, or make a huge mistake on something important?  If you berate yourself too much for it and destroy your own peace of mind, just how will that help you?  Are you worried about your future?  That worry could be taking away your peace of mind right now, while if you hold on to that peace, you could make decisions and take actions now that could make your future brighter.

I’m not always good at holding on to my peace of mind.  But I do know that when it’s not with me, it’s not the result of external circumstances; rather, I’ve allowed it to slip away due to things that I’ve decided to hold on to instead of letting them go.  Peace is one of the most valuable parts of our lives, and when we experience it we’re healthier, happier, and more productive.  So why would we make the decision to hold on to things that take that peace away?  We seem to be conditioned to think that if we lose peace in our minds and hearts, it’s the result of outside circumstances.  The truth is, though, that those outside circumstances don’t cause us to make the decision to hold on to them.  That decision comes from inside ourselves, and it’s one of the most destructive decisions we can make.  Letting go and moving on, though, are two of the most positive decisions that we can make.

Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but
go on in fortune or misfortune at their own
private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.

Robert Louis Stevenson