The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil. – Marcus Tullius Cicero
The world is getting more complex. Every day there seems to be a new trend or technology that adds, even more, complication to our lives. It’s no wonder that many people are finding it hard to understand themselves and find their true sense of self and inner peace amongst all this noise.
In fact, this very problem has lead to an array of new apps appearing that focus on meditation, mindfulness, and general well-being. Mental health and wellbeing are a space where traditionally it has been serviced by professionals trained in the soft sciences such as psychology.
We are finding it harder to know ourselves and to be peaceful with our own thoughts.
Our minds being pulled left, right and center has meant that more and more people are spending less and less time contemplating self that means their minds are so cluttered they’ve lost who they are.
The Power of Peace
What are we all trying to achieve in life?
Many would probably say love, wealth, career, fitness, charity, but ultimately if you chunk high enough up, everyone is one thing, happiness.
Inner peace is part of the path towards happiness, and I’m not talking about this from a meditation or even spiritual point of view, no, I’m all about practicality, and getting inner peace is as important as having a strong business mind.
The reason I say this is because the power of peace is partly the fact that you gain extreme clarity about yourself, but it also allows your mind to become free of other negative thoughts which are not serving you in any way!
So the net effect is you become more sure of yourself and clear of your goals, and you’ll feel a sense of calm moving forward, and certainty of what you are trying to achieve. You are effectively aligning your inner mind with your true self in order to reach happiness faster.
That’s why inner peace is both powerful and necessary.
Taking The Path Towards Peace
I am far from being an ultimate guide towards a peaceful mind. Nevertheless, these ideas are the ways I’ve learned to calm the mind over the years of my first rollercoaster-like-business.
5 Smart Ways to Keep Calm and Reduce Stress
1. Play With Animals
This mostly pertains to cats and dogs, though also applies to fuzzy pets like hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs etc.
It’s scientifically proven that playing with pets releases oxytocin which triggers feelings of happiness, stress relief as well as a feeling of trust. There’s no greater set of feelings to get started on finding the path towards inner peace.
When you are interacting with pets, also observe their behavior and witness how at peace they are with their life, surroundings, and human owners. There’s much that you can learn just by watching and observing animals in their natural environment as well. Everything works in harmonious balance and even the wildest creatures seem at peace with what they are and how they live.
If you don’t have access to pets, go to an animal shelter and volunteer for a day.
2. Forgive Everyone
Forgiveness, even in the most difficult situations can cause an immeasurable change. Forgiving someone for easy things is fine, though try forgiving some difficult circumstances in your life and see how you feel.
No matter how well you life looks right now, there’s bound to be someone whom you’ve never forgiven in your past, for whatever wrongs they did. Think back to that time and without any prejudice, forgive them completely. You can choose whether or not you want to verbally tell them as well, or just keep this to yourself.
When you forgive, your mind lets go of something that might have been caught up in there for many years. This act will free your mind from this burden and provide more space for peace. In fact, you’ll begin to start feeling better straight away!
When you do this, you must wholly and completely forgive them. You’ll know if you are lying to yourself.
3. Acknowledge Your Super-Ego
Too many times do we make bad decisions and go down the wrong path because our super-ego dictates to do so. The word ego was coined by Freud when he defined his structural model of the psyche which consists of 3 parts, the ID, the Ego and the Super-Ego. The ID is the instinctual role, the super-ego plays a critical and moralizing role and the ego attempt to mediate the two by providing a realistic and organized point of view.
As much as most of us would like to believe that we aren’t narcissistic, every person has some narcissistic tendencies, which from time to time get compounded by stressful situations.
The super-ego is that voice which calls for narcissistic behavior, performing perfectionist tasks, criticizing all the time and guilt riding the conscious mind.
There is no peace in all this. A lot of people will not even know when their super-ego rears its ugly head. So to acknowledge it is a big step towards the attainment of peace in your mind. Knowing it’s there allows you to quieten it, which in turn gives you more control and peace.
4. Practice Gratitude
There’s no shortage of thanks that need to be given every day of our lives. People around us from friends and family all help in their natural and instinctive ways, systems and processes work flawlessly to ensure smooth running in our lives.
Great services around us to help with eating, work, travel, our daily lives, yet we spend virtually no time to thank people and be grateful for it.
We experience the miracle of flight, which can get us around the planet in record times. We live in the age where all information is available to us at the push of a few virtual buttons on a screen that responds to our touch!
We have everything to be grateful for, and practicing the art of being grateful each day will help tremendously towards your search for peace.
5. Reunite With Nature
There’s no greater balanced and peaceful system on the planet than nature itself. I’m sure like me, you’ve often been on vacation and visited some majestic or awe-inspiring natural landscape and felt completely inspired by the sheer beauty of it.
Our planet is wonderful. Being in nature reminds us of our own lives and the delicate balance between living and utter chaos! Spend some time in nature and your mind will surely claim its peace.
From peace comes clarity
The more you create calm the sooner you will find all these new thoughts inside your mind that will help you to reach your goals faster and with greater success. Clearing all that fuzz in your head, that unconsciously holds you back, will give you a head start ahead those who have not yet created calm in their lives.