How to Have Peace in The Midst of Turmoil

by Lester Rennard

Peace is one of the most precious commodities that anyone can ever possess. Nothing can substitute for it - not wealth, not fame or any material possession. Without it, there is insecurity, anxiety, misery and confusion. Everyone desires peace even when our definition for it does not always match up and the way we go about searching for it does not always make sense. Yet many of us are devoid of peace and are in a constant state of turmoil. How then can we find peace even when we are surrounded by chaos?

The path to peace first leads to the doorstep of ones own self. To have genuine peace, I must first be at peace with myself. I must first be able to quiet the conflicting voices inside of me and find resolutions to my own private inner battles. Without this first step, all other attempts at finding peace will be futile at best.

But how do I find peace with myself? I must start accepting me for who I am and stop trying to be what I am not. I must cease trying to measure up to the expectations of others by realizing that I will never be able to please everyone. I must acknowledge my limitations, fears, imperfections, doubts, failures, insecurities and inadequacies. I must make peace with my conscience by learning to offer and to seek and receive forgiveness.

To have inner peace also means that I must consistently and intentionally align my actions and choices with the values to which I subscribe. I must make choices to care for my social, physical, mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs and be in balance. I must maintain personal integrity without regard for what is expedient.

When I am at peace with myself, I will then be better able to be at peace with my environment. I will learn to accept others as they are and not feel that I have a right to change them. I will know that the sum total of a person's disposition, demeanor and behavior is being influenced by what is going on in his or her own inner world and over which I have no control. I will be less inclined to absorb the negative energies of those who are not at peace with themselves and then choose not to take their slights personally.

Since peace must first reside within one's own self before one can be at peace with that which is on the outside, it stands to reason that the one who has inner peace may navigate the turbulent waters of life while his/her soul remains anchored in stillness and calm. Whenever I am at peace with myself, I will not permit anything to steal my joy or to make me anxious and miserable. I will not allow the turmoils on the outside to rob me of my priceless possession of that peace that 'passeth all understanding'.