Not expecting anything is peace of mind

What are those lovely things which give you peace in life? Know your self: Distinguish between your self and your mind. Take the time to understand your values, goals, joys, etc. Don’t be greedy: Kick the adrenaline dependency. Slow down and find a balance between life and work. Don’t sleep with problems: Never go to bed with a tangled mind. Find a solution to make it peaceful before sleeping. Relaxation techniques: Yoga, long walks, long soaks in the tub, meditation, etc are helpful. Speak truth: Speaking truth, even when it's uncomfortable relieves the inner tension of pretending. Embrace feelings: Feeling sad cry it out. Feeling good, have some enjoyment. Don’t hold your feelings inside.

Take a deep breath and let go. Unhook yourself from the situation and view it from a detached perspective. When it is dark and quiet outside. I had just snuck out of home, and instead of meeting up with my friends like I’d originally planned to, I decide to head up in my own direction. They were opt and set for egging someone’s house but I wasn’t in the mood for it. I walked to the park which was a couple miles away from my home. Once at the park, which was of course empty at this time of night, I went up to the small bridge it had connecting it to the other park.

Before reaching it all I could hear was the heavy sound of my own breathing and tip-tap of my shoes on the concrete floor. But now, standing on the wooden bridge and looking down at the water, I heard everything. The low croaks of the frogs dimmed under the music of the crickets, which itself drowned under the rush of running water. Across from the water were a couple trees and bushes. It was like a miniature forest. Besides one of the trees, I could see a mother duck sleeping with her young ducklings besides her.

The smell coming from the water is pretty foul but I don’t care. I sit on the bridge’s red floor and let my feet dangle in between the spaces for the bridge’s fence. For a while, I am at peace. There is no such thing as sorrow, frustration, or stress. It was just me and my thoughts with the world put on hold for my convenience. After coming out of this dream-like trance, I stood up and looked for something to take as a souvenir for myself. On the floor besides me is a brownish-green feather. I take it and stuff it into my pocket before running home to try to beat the sun on it’s race to the top of the sky.

Once reaching my home, I quickly climb up my window and into my room, making sure to close it behind me. I am already under the covers when my dad opens my door and tells me to go get ready for school. Sitting up and feeling like I had just waken up from a great dream, I start to wonder if it was actually a dream. I check my right pocket and, sure enough, an emerald green and brownish feather lies in the middle of my palms. That feather is a small part of a calm and quiet world. That feather is peace.

Pay no attention to criticism or to authors of lies. They wouldn’t be doing it if you hadn’t created something to make them jealous. When people troll you, this means that you’re important. Pretend that you’re depressed, but smile inwardly because deep inside, you know that you’re somebody significant. Have a good reason to put a smile on your face. Even when you’re hungry or broke, that’s not a good reason to frown, for you never know when your help is arriving.

Happiness can be faked. This is probably a good thing for your health because your subconscious mind can’t tell the difference. You can probably tell who your best friends are since they’ll not be easy to find. However, you can easily tell who your fake friends are since they’ll bring themselves to you. It’s important to connect with as many friends as possible, but the most important way to have inner peace is to connect with yourself. Whatever happens in your life, try to remain as calm as possible, despite all that’s going on around you.

People who can control their emotions are stronger than fortresses. Most of the problems that take away our inner peace come from reacting to situations we shouldn’t react to. Don’t look for internal peace externally, where everybody is looking. To have peace, you have to look for someone who already has it. Unfortunately, most people don’t have inner peace, so you must change your focus to rely on your internal resources. Despite all the noise, there’s still a central place where you can find peace. The heart is a central place where you can find almost anything that needs to be found.

You will never have peace watching the daily news, for it is the bad news that sells for TV stations and makes a slave to negative news. A person who watches much TV will always wake up with a headache, hangover, or depression. Happiness is the secret to inner peace. Avoid people or situations that deprive you of happiness. Nothing is as infectious as a good laughter, yet most people want to look depressed for no particular reason. Why don’t you lock yourself in a room and laugh even when there’s no particular reason to laugh?

Whatever situation you find yourself in, there’s no good reason to lose hope. Hope is like advance payment on something valuable you’re eagerly awaiting. In most cases, you have innate peace inside of you, but other people come and take it away through discouragement, bad news, and idle talk because they don’t have peace in the first place and they don’t feel comfortable when you have it. When people tell you something negative, the best thing to do is to remain calm. Try to assess it, and if it doesn’t make sense ignore it. The worst thing you can do is to react to it, but the best thing you can do is to avoid negative people.

Inner peace is more valuable than all the peace in the world, because when you have it, you can think more clearly and know how to react to situations and problems. The natural inclination for humans is to dominate and control others. Know that if you’re a person given to this instinct, you’re courting misery, unhappiness, and grief, for the same people you seek to control, will turn upon you and tear you apart, the moment they realize you’re also human. The number one killer for peace of mind is when you lose sleep as a result of another person “getting there” quicker than you. No two people are the same. No two people have the same abilities, and no two people think the same way. Don’t feel jealous because someone else is succeeding where you failed. Instead, be happy for them and your own success will arrive faster than you think.

The number two killer for peace of mind is anger. Anger is like a tornado, destroying everything in it’s wake including you and your loved ones. Pay attention to what you eat. Neurochemicals in the brain that control mood, peace of mind, love, happiness, anger, and other factors, depend on the kind of food you eat, your particular environment, and the people you live with. Changing any or all of these factors, can greatly boost your inner peace that you didn’t believe existed.

There’s a reason why people take a break. Although worrying your head off won’t solve any problem, you might find it reasonable to find a solitary place where you can spend time alone. Enjoying solitude, meditation, and prayer, especially where there’s a body of water like the sea, river, or lake, are great ways to get away from people and all the noise, mobile phones, internet, social media, and rejuvenate your life. Find time to connect with your soul, and understand better what’s ailing you. The phrase that “music heals your soul” can’t be more true. I’d say that making music your close companion is a great way to relax, whether you’re depressed or not. Music relaxes the mind and body, soothes the nerves, recovers your lost energy and focus, and immunizes you from the stresses of life. Cheers!