As life goes on, many of us just want to discover our peace in this crazy world. We look around at all the misfortune and injustice that happens and wish we could just snap our fingers and make it all go away. However, in attempting to find peace outside ourselves, we will always feel disappointed. Peace in one’s heart comes from accepting life and learning to ride the waves.
If we all found peace within ourselves, life wouldn’t have so many pitfalls. If you think about it, the lack of peace comes from some sort of imbalance within ourselves. As a collective, we create realities from our minds and thoughts. So, if we want a more peaceful world overall, we must conquer any beliefs we hold that contradict the truth we want to experience.
You have more control over your life than you think. Keeping this in mind, we have some tips for you about how to find your inner peace below.
“Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.” —Wayne W. Dyer
Here are seven ways to discover peace in a crazy world:
1 – Respond rather than react.
If you want to discover peace in a crazy world, you can’t let every little thing that happens get under your skin. Eastern religions teach that we should have composure in all circumstances in life so as not to let them control us. If you react to every situation life throws at you, whether negative or positive, your emotional and mental state will remain imbalanced.
In other words, you will remain a victim of life rather than a master of it. By keeping your composure in both challenging and joyous times, you will be able to respond rather than react. Life inevitably comes with ups and downs. However, if you can ride the waves instead of letting them pull you under, you’ll come out on top every time.
Most people only feel peace when things go their way. The second anything unpleasant or traumatic happens, they lose their cool and allow life’s turbulence to drown them. Indian philosopher and speaker Jiddu Krishnamurti said it best, “This is my secret. I don’t mind what happens.”
This statement doesn’t mean you should have a heartless, stoic approach to life. It simply means you won’t allow life’s ever-changing circumstances to control your emotions.
2 – Accept life rather than fight against it.
Expanding upon the above point, you can discover peace by accepting your circumstances. No matter if you have your dream home, job, or car yet, you can still find happiness in the now. If you have a roof over your head, a family who loves you, food and water, and clothes on your back, you have a lot to give thanks for.
Most people feel discomfort and anxiety because they always fight against life. They don’t feel inner peace because they give all their energy to worrying, ruminating, or in some way, removing themselves from the present moment. What we resist persists, so if you feel any tension in you, choose to release it and feel the peace wash over you.
Once you’ve accepted your situation, you can choose your next step with a clear head. By releasing those pent up emotions, you’ll find it much easier to discover your intuition, which will help guide the way.
3 – Meditate and go within.
Scientists have been studying the benefits of meditation for decades now and have discovered some profound facts about it. Meditation simply means training your attention and awareness by using your breath to control bodily energy. Eastern religions practice meditation daily as a part of their devotion to a higher power. Of course, you needn’t have a religion to engage in the practice.
It offers benefits to everyone, and you can start at any time. From beginners to advanced devotees, meditation can bring about life-changing results. Here are a few benefits of meditation, all backed by science:
- Reduces stress
- Lessens anxiety
- Promotes emotional well-being and balance
- Heightens self-awareness and intuition
- Lengthens attention span
- Improves memory
- Helps increase kind feelings toward self and others
- Improves sleep quality
- Helps curb addictions
- Decreases blood pressure and heart rate
- Lessens pain response
4 – Make your home your sanctuary.
If you have a peaceful environment to come home to, this will help ward off stress and anxiety about life. By surrounding yourself with plants, soothing music, beautiful, inspiring art, and other peace-promoting objects, you will find tranquility in your immediate environment. Eliminate anything that disturbs your inner calm, whether that means getting rid of unnecessary clutter, turning off the news, or throwing out unhealthy foods.
If you turn your home into a sanctuary, you can always look forward to returning after a stressful day. Maintain a calm environment at home, and this will help facilitate peaceful feelings in your heart and mind.
5 – Watch the company you keep.
No one likes to surround themselves with negative people, but we all know someone in our lives, which tends to bring us down more often than not. Pay attention to your close friends and notice how you feel around them. If you leave feeling drained and overwhelmed after hanging out with them, you should reevaluate your friendship with them.
Friends should uplift and inspire you, so if they tend to lower your mood the majority of the time, ask yourself why you continue to hang out with them. Friends should also add value to your life in some way. If you want to discover peace in a crazy world, start by distancing yourself from people who don’t bring out the best in you.
6 – Discover peace by getting out in nature.
We evolved over thousands of years by remaining in touch with our natural environment. Unfortunately, many diseases had surfaced when we started removing ourselves from nature and shifting to a modern, technology-driven world. While modern conveniences have made our lives easier in many ways, they’ve also cut off our connection to our natural environment.
Studies show how nature can restore peace and calm in our lives. When we surround ourselves with woods, streams, or natural scenery, our minds immediately start to calm down. In our modern world, our attention continually flits from one stimulus to another. However, the peacefulness found in nature allows our minds to drift slowly from one scene to another.
The slower pace of life in nature can help you discover peace in this crazy world. It can also help ward off depression and negative thinking. Science shows that spending 90 minutes walking in nature reduces activity in the part of the brain associated with negative rumination.
7 – Listen to others’ problems without taking them on as your own.
The moment we take on other people’s problems, our peace gets snatched away from us. We can give empathy to others without absorbing their energy or taking it on as our own. Many empaths have a hard time differentiating between their energy and others, but having a boundary is vital to preserving inner peace.
If you find that people come up to you often to divulge their problems, simply listen without giving too much of your energy. By allowing circumstances outside yourself to dictate your emotions, peace will always evade you. However, if you take whatever life throws at you and maintain a balanced disposition, you will have more energy and resources to help other people.
Here are some ways you can provide love and support to others without becoming overwhelmed:
- Give them advice, but don’t get too wrapped up in their stories.
- Suggest other resources to them, such as counselors or meditation programs.
- Make time for your self-care, because you can’t pour from an empty cup.
- Don’t give more of yourself away than you can afford. In other words, if you have a lot on your plate right now, perhaps focus more on yourself than others. This practice isn’t selfish; it’s sometimes necessary to strike a balance.
- Remind them that sometimes life throws us curveballs, but that doesn’t mean things will remain difficult forever.
Final thoughts about how to discover peace in a crazy world
We all want inner peace, happiness, and fulfillment; however, without the hard times, we wouldn’t appreciate the easy ones as much. In our reality, we must have both the dark and the light; otherwise, we wouldn’t exist. So next time you feel frazzled and overwhelmed by life, just remember that the hard times don’t last forever, and you will see better days.
If you want to maintain peace even in the more difficult times, just remember that you can choose how you respond to situations outside your control. Accept rather than fight against life. Meditate to keep your emotional composure. Make your home cozy and peaceful, and don’t allow people into your life who disturb your peace. Finally, make time for nature and help others without taking on their problems as your own. Do these things, and you will find that peace you have been searching for.
