As the society gets more complicated and the economic situation even more challenging, it is becoming almost impossible to achieve a sense of balance in life. When life stops going in the way that you expected it to, work becomes stressing or you lose a loved one, it is very easy to fall into a state of internal conflict. However, it is very possible to achieve inner peace no matter what situations you are going through. It is important to note that achieving complete inner peace does not happen overnight. Here is a step by step guide that you can follow in attaining inner peace.
Step one: offloading your emotional baggage
Everybody has a certain amount of emotional baggage. This could come from shame due to certain things you did in the past, poor judgments you passed on others, having been victimized or abused, insecurities and even body image issues. The truth of the matter is that living with these feelings and trying to bury them or forget them does not work. Instead of hiding the feelings that deny you peace, get out there and find people to share with. You will be amazed at the absolute freedom you get when you open up about the things that hurt you in the past. When you bottle up emotions, they get to you and start defining who you are and how you relate with others. The problem with staying with these feelings is that any time a reference is made about them, you feel like people know and are mocking you. This is what leads to emotional turmoil and a feeling of inadequacy. For instance, you can chose to share about an addiction issue you had in the past or be the guy that reacts angrily to addiction jokes all the times.
Step two: letting go of control
Once you have identified the things that make inner peace elusive to you, the secret of inner peace that follows is letting go of control. People that spend their whole lives trying to get the perfect job, the perfect home, the perfect spouse and everything else end up quite frustrated. There are times that you just have to let life happen. Acknowledge the fact that it is normal to feel scared, threatened, sad and even frustrated. What you do about the feelings is what will show whether you are at peace with yourself or not. Avoid trying to control others. When you try to control another person for instance, that person is ultimately controlling you. Do not allow any person to have control over your feelings. Stop allowing yourself to say things like “you make me so angry.” Take time and gain what is called emotional intelligence. This is what will help you stay calm regardless of the things that other people do to you.
Step three: taking some alone time to mediate
There is nothing that relaxes the body, mind and soul better than spending some time alone. It does not matter how busy your schedule is, how many hours you have to bill in order to pay for the mortgage or how rowdy your kids are; you will need to find time and get away from all of it. You can choose to do anything that helps you relax. Walks are one of the best ways to clear your mind. As you walk, you will find yourself thinking about the path that your life is taking, the past and present experiences and how they have affected your interactions with others and what to do to improve. This will help you attain a sense of calm. You can also try and interact with nature or practice things like yoga to help you meditate. Meditation the secret of inner peace that every person should know about and practice.
Step four: embracing your beliefs and creating a positive energy around yourself
There is no rule as to what belief system is correct or what is not. You just have to find the things that you believe in as an individual, provided they are positive and embrace them. Having things that you believe in helps you rediscover your conscience. As a result, you will be able to do what is right by your conscience and avoid what is wrong. This will be a big step towards maintaining inner peace in the future. People that have a working faith system have been found to have a higher quality of life.
Step five: self-acceptance
When you have embraced the things that you believe in, the next step should be taking time to think carefully about yourself. There are people that spend a lot of time in self-denial, leading to a lot of emotional turmoil. Whether you are the misunderstood nerd at school or the hated over-achiever at work, take time embracing it is what will help you stop being bothered by it. Accept the fact that you are not perfect and that you will make mistakes as life goes along. This will help you stop being too hard on yourself when you mess up. In addition to that, learn to always try and be a better person every day and never lose hope that things will be better. Keep learning about everything that you can. This will help you face the fear of not knowing all the things that you are supposed to.
Step six: live every day as it comes
The last and most important secret in achieving inner peace lies in taking life on day at a time. It is important to worry about the future and plan for it. However, do not get too carried away by the future and forget about enjoying where you are at the moment. Instead of worrying about a foreclosure that might happen if you do not make a mortgage payment for the next three months, why not use that energy in working extra hard to raise the money? When you learn to live in the present, future problems eventually solve themselves.Those are the most important steps and secrets to help you achieve inner peace. Bear in mind that it takes time and a lot of practice to let go of the stress and be peaceful.