The Peace Within / The Peace Without

{3:18 minutes to read} My friend, Paula Parish, shared one of those “had to share” emails with me just before Thanksgiving. Being as busy as we are these days, finding the time to read everything people send us is not always easy. But when Paula forwards something to me, I read it. And as usual, I’m so glad I did!

The message resonated with me immediately, and I realized she handed me my holiday article already bundled up with a big, fat bow—thank you, Paula! Here is the essential part of the message. To read the entire piece, you can go to Ananda Yoga Studios and click on “peace.” Of course!

Peace starts within us…

We cannot bring to the world what we do not have to offer. Often we look at the outside world and find it in a state of seeming chaos or disorder.

We feel compelled to transform the situation from one of turmoil into one of peace, yet we are often disappointed in our best attempts to do so. One reason for this is that we cannot bring to the world what we do not have to offer. 

Peace starts in our own minds and hearts, not outside of ourselves, and until its roots are firmly entrenched in our own selves, we cannot manifest it externally. Once we have found it within, we can share it with our family, our community, and the whole wide world.

Some of us may already be doing just that, but for most of us, the first step is looking within and honestly evaluating the state of our own relationship to peacefulness. 

Interestingly, people who manifest peace internally are not different from us; they have chattering thoughts and troubled emotions like we all do. The difference is that they do not lend their energy to them, so those thoughts and feelings can simply rise and fall like the waves of the ocean without disturbing the deeper waters of peacefulness within.

We all have this ability to choose how we distribute our energy, and practice enables us to grow increasingly more serene as we choose the vibration of peace over the vibration of conflict. We begin to see our thoughts and feelings as tiny objects on the surface of our being that pose no threat to the deep interior stillness that is the source of peacefulness.

And so… may you find that deep stillness that allows you to access the peace within during this holiday season of joy, love, light and generosity. And may it sustain you into the New Year and beyond. The world needs you.