How do you find inner peace... or have you?

[lightbulb27]

How are you actively finding inner peace?
What practices and disciplines do you employ?

[Lliam]

First, I maintain a sense of humor. I don't allow myself to be consumed with fear or anger. With so much of the fucked up shit that happens in the world, I sometimes shake my head and scoff at the utter insanity or irony.

I read a lot and inform myself.

I interact with bright, informed, honest and caring people and take heart in the fact that there are such people n the world.

I also bring myself back to the moment and take stock of how fortunate I am. I love my wife and my home, I'm healthy and I have what I need.

Finally, I take solace in nature and creation. I wrote the following a while back:

When things look gloomy, observing nature brings me peace. For me, it's like a form of meditation. Sitting on the ground, watching puffy, white clouds in a brilliant blue sky. Watching the movement of water in a babbling brook and listening to the musical sound. The ocean. Waterfalls. Forests. Admiring the colors and textures of landscapes. Breathing the air and the sweet smells. Feeling the sun and the breeze. Sitting on the grass and observing the various bugs purposefully bumbling among the blades on their errands of discovery. Noticing the wide diversity of ground covering plants and tiny flowers that grow among the grasses. Getting close to a flowering bush and watching the bees and pollinators busily and, I think, happily, going from flower to flower. Watching and listening to birds. Catching glimpses of lizards and other creatures. Observing the contrast and diversity of plants, from lichen and mosses, to flowers and trees. Every living thing moves with purpose at its own designated pace. Yet they are content, unconscious of the passage of time or the weight of the world. They are 100% in the moment. They don't worry, they just do.

To be alive and have the opportunity to experience creation with all my senses fills me with gratitude, awe and wonder.

When I ponder these things my worries slip away for the moment. I think, "What's the worst that could happen?" Things will turn out as they will.

[midnightmoon05]

Well said Mr. Liam….
To sum up…

Appreciation.

[Lliam]

@midnightmoon05. In a nutshell, yes. LOL

[lightbulb27]

Yes, I've had great joy watching ants do what they do... moving some bread into a hole, or moving their whole village far away. Being in the moment is the essence of breathing deep, meditation, relaxation, and peace. Our society gets so busy... ahemm... me included... we lose track of being in the very moment of time, which is the only place we can be. The huge mind, memory, imaginative we have gives us power to understand but causes so much havoc.

I can't help but think of people trapped in places that don't have such beauty around them, whose internal compass desires it. No wonder people go nuts more in the cities...

I heard this statement in church once of worshiping (worthy) the creator not the creation. I may ask a separate question on that because I wonder if there is an additional peace with leaving this world. That is the fundamental issue all humans have to grapple with (that have awareness... children may not).

[Lliam]

@lightbulb27. I don't know or care if there is a creator. But if there is, it should be happy that I am grateful for the ability to appreciate what it created with all my heart.

I agree with you about feeling sorry for those who grow up in places where they've never experienced the glory of nature. They are divorced from their natural selves and merely exist.

[DJB72]

I place my trust in the Goodness of God and put my Faith in His Son to wash away anything that would get in the way of having a relationship with Him.

Generally when I lose my sense of peace it's because I'm trying to do something opposed to the known Will of God as taught in the Bible. I don't read Aramaic, ancient Greek or Hebrew so I rely on reading about a dozen English translations to seek the full meaning the writers would have taken as granted.

And while I read and listen to many Christian teachers from a variety of backgrounds I find Peace reading the Bible itself.

[lightbulb27]

did you have religion prior to your near death experience?
I wonder if you have insight as to why "the universe" is not comforting when facing the end with bad feelings.
I as well put my faith in the same, found in my early 30's but started to understand in my 40's, it makes sense to me. Well said.

[DJB72]

I've been a Christian since 1985 after my brother died. I was a mess emotionally. Then after I really learned to let God love me on His terms although the external situation was the same I began to learn Peace - on His terms.

"The Universe" is a cold, predominantly lifeless thing. It's created and consequently it's Fallen. There's no "Eternity" in it. It may exist another million years, but ultimately it's dying. It's subject to the ravages of time the same way we are. A sightless guide.

Without Hope.

Christ, inversely, is Life. The embodiment of everything Eternal. Light. Hope.

[lightbulb27]

Sorry to hear of the loss of your brother, lost one of mine a few years before that. You were faced with a loss at an early age and glad you had Christ there to pick you up.
Well said.

[DJB72]

Thanks.

[Agape93]

I've never had inner peace, just varying levels of internal screaming.

[Ectomorph]

Getting epiphanies. Whenever one hits you, do you realise that you are able to find acceptance regarding that which you gained an epiphany of? So this is one way of getting inner peace, but it's not something you can practice on a daily basis. You have to seek it out by reading widely on the matters that trouble you.

[lightbulb27]

yes, it's like getting to a new level of knowledge. so discovery and overcoming challenge brings inner peace I think is what you are saying...

[exitseven]

I doubt i will ever have it. I have just lived too long.

[lightbulb27]

depending on genetics, you might have 30-50 years left. You are at the half time show... hope you find it, if that's what you seek.

[apple24]

Just doing all my task gives me tons of peace