LIVING WITH JOY - Chapter 12
XII. Feeling Inner Peace
What is inner peace? All of you have a picture in your mind of what you think inner peace is. You have achieved this state many times, sometimes for moments, even for hours, and so you know what inner peace feels like. Part of growth is learning to create that feeling without being dependent upon things turning out a certain way or needing people to respond to you in a specific way. You want to create it as something you are and be able to give and share it with others. You become the center, radiating your soul's light outward, rather than reacting, waiting for others or for situations and events in your life to be arranged in such a way that you have peace.
Creating inner peace from the higher levels is learning to open your heart. It means that you are not focused or attached on an emotional level to things that happen in the world you see around you. You know who you are, and you let things flow around you without touching or affecting your sense of peace. You can learn to touch and affect the energy in the outer world from that center of energy within yourself. That is peace. Opening the heart means remaining open and loving no matter what another person does, no matter what occurs to you, or what happens in your career. It means choosing to feel peaceful no matter what your outer life looks like. It is easy to be loving and open when those around you are loving; the challenge is to be loving when those around you are closed, afraid, or negative.
inner peace comes from within,
not from without.
Anything you are attached to, anything you must have a certain way, any belief or concept that is inflexible will be an area in which your inner peace can be affected. The goal is to take that sense of inner peace and affect everything in the outer world, touching it with that energy. The first step is to find that sense of inner peace.
One of the simplest ways is through relaxing your body, which can be done both through physical touch and through mental relaxation. The body is the receptacle of many thoughts that are not peaceful, and if the body can be brought to a state of peace and rest, the mind can be taught that feeling and learn to create it. Peace is more than just a feeling of relaxation in the body. It is a very specific radio wave, a vibration you send out that affects everything in your outer world.
You can begin to experience various levels of inner peace, down to the deepest feelings of it. Start by finding a sense of peace within you. Give yourself one opportunity in the next week to feel inner peace. You may want to create a place of beauty, a sense of timelessness, provide music, so that you can truly experience what peace means to you. From that space, from that knowing, you can begin to change everything you see in the outer world.
What is the value of inner peace? Certainly it feels better to the emotional body. But it is more than that—it is the ability to affect the outer world from your highest level, to create and manifest from a focused place of purpose and an inner sense of who you are. When you are tranquil and calm, when you slow down and feel relaxed, you are able to create and think at your higher levels. What you bring to earth and create from this space is your higher good.
You can create things when you feel tense, anxious or fearful, but those things may not be for your highest good; in fact, they will probably not be. If, before you plan your life or think of new ideas you find a sense of inner peace and operate from it, you will find your plans reflecting more of your soul's purpose than your personality desires. If before you act or speak you bring in this sense of peace, you will find your world changing rapidly into a very different place.
Inner peace is a connection
to your deeper self,
and it will assist you
in letting go of fear.
Fear is a lower energy, a vibration of less light, and can be changed by love. One of the goals of having inner peace is healing fear. It may be a fear that someone will hurt or reject you, abandon or run away from you. It may be a fear that you cannot make it in the world, a fear of putting yourself out there and failing. Inner peace is a connection to the heart and a willingness to let go of fear. It is achieved by letting go of having anything to defend, and being willing to be vulnerable. It is not putting on an act for other people; it is being willing to shine through as who you are, and knowing you are all right.
Having inner peace means committing to letting go of self-criticism and self-doubt. Everything other people say to you about yourself is a reflection of a voice within you. What other people say to you also reflects how they speak to themselves. If you find people critical, first ask, is there a part of you that is criticizing your self? As you let go of that self-criticism, you will experience less criticism from others. Remember also that what people say to you is a reflection of who they are and how they see the world. They may criticize you because they are critical of themselves. See their actions and words as a statement of their beliefs and learn to remain calm and centered.
Inner peace heals. You do not need to focus on your fears to let go of them. By achieving a feeling of inner peace, holding any situation in your life up to the light, you will find your mind opening to new ideas, solutions and answers that come from your soul. Inner peace is the connection to your spiritual self. You achieve it through physical relaxation in the body, emotional calm, and mental focus on higher ideals and qualities. If you wish to go upward, to experience and live in the higher levels of energy, inner peace is the doorway.
Once you decide to create inner peace, you may find many things happening that challenge your resolve to remain peaceful. You may say, "I can remain peaceful except if that happens." The universe is sending you those exceptions as an opportunity to create a new response of peace instead of being upset.
How do you manifest inner peace and hold it steadily? You begin by acknowledging those moments when you have inner peace, attuning your awareness to the feeling, and by having the will and intent to create it. You can use your imagination to think of what it would feel like. You can think about or contemplate inner peace, for wherever you place your thoughts you begin to create experience.
You can decide
to stop being affected by
the outer world and, instead,
to affect the world around
with your peace.
No matter what happens each day, if unexpected bills arrive in the mail or someone changes his mind, no matter what in the past has destroyed your emotional calm, mental peace, or physical well-being, decide that you will now radiate peace, healing, and love. The world you see around you is but an illusion created by the energy you are sending out. Anything is possible. The limits you see, the part of you that says "this can't be done" are only thoughts. They absolutely can be changed. From a position of inner peace you can create the reflection of your soul's light in the outer world.
Manifesting inner peace means acting rather than reacting. It is a stance, an attitude; it is an energy you send flowing outward into the world. It means you can connect with the universe at your higher soul levels. Imagine there are many streams of energy around you, and you can choose to operate in any one you wish. One is called struggle, a great deal of work to get what you want, and another is called joy. When you're anxious, tense and worried, you are in the first stream. If for even a moment you find inner peace, you automatically join the second, higher flow of energy.
There are many people alive right now who are creating and experiencing energy flows of creativity, peace, and light. Whenever you achieve inner peace, you link with all those beings that are living in and creating this higher energy flow. Ideas may begin to come to you. You can pull in anything you need from this position of peace.
To have inner peace, you will need to be willing to open your heart. When something happens that would normally make you feel defensive or closed, when you would normally pull away choosing to feel hurt, you have another choice. If instead you are willing to open your heart just one more notch, experience a little more compassion and understanding for other people, you will find yourself able to send them love and create a feeling of peace for yourself.
You can choose to see
the world any way you want.
You may say "Yes, but this is the way my life is, these are the facts. If only this situation changed, or I had more money, or this person would stop irritating me, I could discover inner peace." What you experience as real is simply a reflection of your belief systems and your mind. If you choose to experience inner peace anyway, you can change everything you now experience as real—bringing in new ideas and beliefs that might work in higher and better ways.
Forgiveness is necessary for inner peace. If there are people from your past you hold a grudge against, or feel negatively towards, you can in a few minutes forgive them and let go. If someone hasn't returned your call or letter, owes you something, or hurt you badly, you will clear your own energy if you forgive, let go and detach. Inner peace means releasing attachments to anything—to having a person act the way you want or to having the world work the way you expect. When you let go of those attachments, you will find your life working even better than you could have expected or planned. It does not mean giving up control of your life; it means coming from your own center of peace at all times.
Right now, make the decision that you can bring inner peace into your life. Make the decision that you're going to open your heart even more, be more compassionate, more understanding, more loving, and more forgiving of everyone you know. Form a picture in your mind of yourself going through the next week, and see yourself coming from a totally new level of peace. See the smile on your face and the joy in your heart.
Take one thing in your life that you would like to feel peace about, something that possibly you have been reacting to, and make a mental image of releasing, forgiving and letting go, finding inner peace with this issue. Only you can create inner peace. From that space, you will see the world you experience reflecting it. Other people, events, and situations do not need to trigger a reaction in you. If, instead, you maintain this center of peace, you will change those events that used to disturb and upset you. If they do not change, it will no longer intrude on your sense of well-being. You can find your center, your soul's light and your inner being reflected and carried out in the world you experience.
FEELING INNER PEACE
PLAYSHEET
Relax your body. Take three deep breaths and let all tension go.
Remember three times you felt inner peace. Really experience that peaceful feeling. Write about them here.
What things take away your peaceful feeling? Finish this sentence: I can be peaceful except . . . (For example, “except when my boss is in a bad mood")
Say to yourself, "The part of me that doesn't feel peaceful is only a small part and I now identify and connect with my strong inner self. This strong side is now putting more light into that small fearful part."
Now take every statement above and turn it into a positive affirmation—"My strong inner self feels peace even when my boss is in a bad mood." As you do so, let yourself feel the strength of your wise, confident self, and then release, forgive and let go of each situation that is a distraction to your inner peace.