Every day brings a choice: to practice stress or to practice peace.” ~Joan Borysenko
At the moment, I’m in a tight situation. I’m in the process of shifts, and it’s bringing a lot of chaos, uncertainty, insecurities, and fears into my life, as changes will do. One of my most profound aspirations is to be able to look at trouble; in any form, of magnitude, square in the eye, and drift up to the next level of not letting any of the anarchy alter my inner homeostasis. Whatever the drama is at work, family, friends, worldly, financial, school, natural disasters, I don’t want any of it to murk my harmony.
My hope is for peace or bust, on the inside and all around me. When we recognize that life is our mirror, we begin to understand that the outer turmoil merely represents our mental state. If we can quiet our inner chaos, our external mess will simmer. However, too often, we get this process backward, and that is why it takes us so long sometimes to tame all of the ruckuses: We don’t take the time first to quiet our mental noise.
I often say I am a glowing light of hope on a high mountain, bright, and at peace. My biggest fear is someone dimming and darkening that light of hope and knocking me out of balance and getting me crushed .So, my escape is to imagine I am a shimmering light in the middle of the chaos; as they try to push and shove me down, I remain at ease and continue to stay guarded by my peaceful and bright light. I need that kind of serenity in my day to day living. Especially when situations arise that aren’t going according to my plan. I transcend into the glowing light of hope and peace as I center myself, unfazed by the drama going on all around me.
Keeping this vibe of peace is hard to do sometimes when we are faced with the challenges of life. The winds of change blast through our lives daily and unpredictable things happen on the regular that are beyond our control. How do we handle it all? Personally, my brain speeds to “fix” everything. If something comes up, that doesn’t go according to my plan, I sometimes spend sleepless nights trying to figure out what to do. I will ask myself advice, journaling my answers, writing immensely word by word trying to find a solution. Then, I find myself inquiring my mom, a few friends, even my cat for advice. Other times I will search the internet for any information and solutions I can find. Then, I remember that glowing light of hope on a high mountain, bright, and at peace that I have created to battle the chaos. It is only from developing inner calm and centeredness that we can transcend above any external turmoil.
So how can we do this? How can we transform any chaotic situation into one of inner and outer peace? How do we sit calmly and not get caught up in the fire of life? How do we not worry or limited the worrying? How do we stay centered and grounded? How do we remain connected and rooted?
These ideas may help:
1. Visualize.
This is the first thing I do. I try to calm my mind down, and I start envisioning the outcome positively. I don’t get attached to these ideas; I solely start imagining myself happy, healthy, safe and loved, and I begin to envision a friendlier situation and outcome.
Then I can rest in those good vibes as I remain cradled in my center. Thoughts have power.
2. Teach your subconscious brain to have a different default thinking than it does now.
Daydreaming isn’t enough to transcend us; we’ve got to explore it. If we wish for things to be better or different, but underneath it all, we think that we are doomed no matter what, then nothing will change.
It takes us retraining our subconscious mind to have a different belief system.
I personally like to use affirmations to help me improve my mental and emotional fitness. In Ayurveda, we call this a mantra. It’s a positive, uplifting thought that is to be repeated many times throughout the day until it becomes an inner truth and belief system.
An example of a mantra is “Everything always works out,” or, “Only what is best will happen.” When I’m stressed, repeating these two mantras throughout the day draws me back into my center and eases my mind. Words have power.
3. Develop faith that everything always turns out okay.
For us to transcend our condition and create more peace in our lives, we have got to feel it. The best way for us to succeed at levitating above the chaos is to have faith.
To have faith, we must believe with conviction that everything will be okay, even if we can’t currently see exactly how.
When we possess faith, that inner knowing is a feeling that we have. We know. And we cannot evolve fully into the know until we have unlockable faith. Emotions have power.
4. Keep your eyes and heart focused on how you can add value to the world each day.
In Ayurveda, we call this our Dharma, and it means life purpose. It is our own unique mission in life, the reason we are each here. It is our individual gift we were born to share with others. It is what we are here to serve and astonish the world with. It is in our DNA and a part of us. It is scripted on our souls.
In moments of mayhem, cling to your purpose in life. Stick with what is right to you. No matter what is going on in our lives right now, our only guarantee is our life purpose. It will never leave you because it is a part of you. It is the yin to our yang.
In moments of panic and confusion, instead of pumping my brain for answers, I have learned to stay calm and focus on my purpose. We are here on this Earth for one purpose alone: to be and spread unconditional love. It’s how we do it that differs. And it’s these differences that paint the mosaic of life.
When all else fails, focus on how you can add value to the world. If you are wondering what your own personal life mission is, follow your dreams; they will lead you there.
When I know I have contributed value to the world each day, I feel centered, grounded, and at ease. Action is power.
Remember, the outside world is a mirror of our inner world. If we can tame the inner creature inside, the dramas in our outer worlds will subside. And when events occur that are beyond our control, we can use these four tools to remain rooted in our center, and at peace.
We will become one shining light of hope.