Are there really only 12 symptoms of inner peace? Of course not. But, I’ve found these twelve to be quite powerful for me. This is because they give me a way to understand myself and others. As a young adult living in New York City, I came in contact with all kinds of people. Of course, the fact that there was such a large population led to some uneasy interactions. You better know how to find your inner peace or die tryin’.  

Regardless of where you live, take the time to develop the ability to tap into your inner peace. But, keep in mind, if you’re in ‘the city that never sleeps’ or any other big city, you better dig deep. You must learn how to get a hold of the tranquility.  It’s what will keep you from stress-related illness, both physical and mental.

What’s the opposite of inner peace? Is it outer stress?  Sure, I think a lot of it is stress that comes to us from outside of our control. I also think that we very much have the ability to create our own stress thereby making it more difficult to find the calm within.

How do we check that?   The first step is to identify the source of stress.  

• If the stress is coming from a position of power, such as your boss,  it will have to be dealt with diplomatically. You probably don’t want to look him in the eye and say, “I’m searching for inner peace right now. Please don’t stress me out.”  That might lead to you having a lot of time to think about how you could have handled it differently.
• What has helped me to not create my own stress is to learn to not take things personally.  Also, I understand that I don’t know what makes a person behave in a certain manner.  Who knows what happened or is happening in their lives that has them acting a certain way?  I do not judge.
• Am I creating my own stress?  Oh, yeah, baby. We’ve all done that a time or two. In fact, I have a dear friend who has lots of anger.  For this reason, he has suffered very much. He’s estranged from family members, has endured serious illness, and has lost his mobility.  He needs some inner peace, stat!  But, I cannot judge.
• Is inner peace something that comes to us automatically?  On the contrary, it doesn’t come naturally to most of us. And, yes, it’s something that is developed over time only with great patience.

Here are 3 things that I practice on a daily basis to help me find my inner peace.

1.  Feel connected to nature.  

A walk through the woods, a garden, or to the beach feeds my ability to be in balance with a higher power and relieves stress.  Learn more about the power of nature in this post from the University of Minnesota, “How Does Nature Impact Our Wellbeing?“.

2.  Being grateful creates a feeling of being blessed.

Even in times of trouble, we can always find someone or something to be thankful for.  Indeed, a simple daily task is to make a habit of noting 5 things that you appreciate.  You can do it when you’re on your nature walk.

3.  Don’t Worry, Be Happy!  

When fear and doubt sneak up on me I sing that song.  It seems silly, but it always reminds me that it’s useless to worry.  As Louise Hay said, “The point of power is in the present moment.” I can’t worry about the past nor can I project the future.  That’s why I work hard to live in the now.

The author of “Symptoms of Inner Peace” is Saskia Davis.

One more thing, a great way to get in touch with your peaceful side is to have a pet. Please read this Dance Safari post, “How to Be Happy – Be the Person Your Dog Thinks You Are“.