Prioritizing Inner Peace

There’s a lot out there to be mad about. There’s a lot to get upset about too. I went through a couple weeks of feeling that stuff in a big way. Until, I realize that feeling that stuff in a big way wasn’t serving me very well. It wasn’t serving those close to me very well either, and it wasn’t changing anything other than how I was experiencing the world around me.

It’s important that we pay attention to our thoughts because as I mentioned in a previous post, thoughts lead to feelings and feelings lead to behaviors. When we can recognize that, we can interrupt unproductive thinking and the feelings will come along.

It’s easy to get into conspiracy theory thinking even at work.

This person is doing this thing that upsets me because they think this or because this person told them that….

It’s easy to get fixated on the actions and decisions of other people. Especially when their actions or decisions run counter to our core values.

But the reality is, the only we can truly control at the end of the day is ourselves. The real work is the work we do on ourselves. Everything else is secondary. How we feel in the work impact the works, so when we can find ways to feel better in the work, the work gets better.

I write about this in the draft of my book, but there is a working definition of happiness that’s pretty simple: growth. Happiness is growth.

Sometimes, the best way to make ourselves happy is to grow into responding differently to the things that are happening around us. I’m not talking about dangerous or abusive situations. In those situations, safety is the highest priority. I’m talking about regular every day things that really start to erode our sense of peace.

We deserve peace. Peace is important for both our well-being and for everyone we come into contact with due to emotional contagion. This is why an escalated adult cannot deescalate a child. This is why some colleagues choose to not to eat their lunch in certain rooms. This is why some of us take that long dramatic pause before responding. Because sometimes, the best response is no response.

In short, sometimes inner peace is created by boundaries with others. Often, inner peace is created by boundaries within ourselves. It’s choosing to entertain certain thoughts and not others. It’s choosing to interrupt thoughts that are not promoting our sense of well-being.

What is something that has been triggering for you lately? How might you pay attention to your thinking in this area and interrupt thoughts that aren’t serving you well? How might you replace those thoughts with more productive thinking, so you can prioritize inner peace?