Peace. A Work in Progress

What does the word peace mean to you?

To me, it means freedom… Freedom from disturbance and freedom from fear.  It means to live in a state of tranquility and calm.

For so many years, during my teens and early twenties, peace was out of reach for me. For so many years, I just could not find it, no matter how hard I looked… this was incredibly frustrating and made life exceedingly difficult. My soul was drenched with fear and my mind was a constant barrage of anxious thoughts and static noise. I think it is because of the fact that I lived without a sense of peace for so many tiresome years, that for me, today, it is the one thing that holds the most importance in my everyday experiences. It is the one thing I strive to find, on a daily, even moment to moment basis. It is my number one priority.

After I got put on medication when I was 26, this is when things changed for the better, I got some relief, and found some peace. But then I started to live my life “normally”, and all of a sudden, peace seemed difficult to grasp again. Amidst our hectic lives, we are in a constant state of striving towards the next goal. We are in a constant state of dis-satisfaction because we do not have this or do not have that. Even when we have found things that make us happy or fulfilled, we are anxious or worried that these things may not be permanent.  There is always something to stress about. So, I started to think about peace again and internally I have been on a search to find it… and I have definitely made some headway.

So… how do we find peace, amidst the chaos of our lives?

Through trans-formative spiritual practice.

I cannot stress to you enough how much things have changed for me since deepening my spiritual practice and spiritual growth. What I realise now is that peace is readily available to each and every one of us, every moment of every day. The way to tap into this is through the practice of surrender.

Remember there is nothing wrong with goals and dreams and having plans for the future. The key here is that you can have them, but you must then surrender them and release them to the universe. You must allow your life to be entirely in the hands of the universe. You take your hands off the steering wheel and allow the universe’ plan for you to unfold. This makes the experience of life effortless, and things unfold with ease and grace. When you get caught up in the timing of things… you must simply remember to enjoy the present moment and remind yourself that the universe will guide you and support you to move forwards towards your highest good, in divine timing. The by-product of this level of trust, and this level of faith… is peace.

This doesn’t come easily though, I must say. I can tap into these feelings during a meditation, or whilst I’m reading one of my spiritual books, but then I go out into the world and I can all of a sudden forget peace. Fear hooks me back in, and I lock into a mindset of control and wanting things to be a certain way, and within certain timing… I end up focusing on what is lacking, rather than focusing on gratitude and all the good things in my life.

But I am getting better at moving back to that peaceful state, when I remember that I can choose love over fear, and this releases me from time, and restores my hope and faith.

Then I can allow the universe to step in again, and I allow my intuition and the energy of love to be my guide. We must embrace the miracle within every moment, and trust that each step will be perfectly laid out before us.

So when the fears of the world take you out, simply return to the present moment and surrender. And once you have surrendered, surrender more… this is the road back to peace. Be the light x