Actual peace is lively and living. Peace, as you are coming to know it, co-exists on this world. Peacefulness is the ability to be present in almost any situation, while being present together with your response. For instance: there is a sound of a lawnmower outside, and If you’re focusing on your own work is that going to affect your internal awareness? Is the sound distracting? In fact, it is distracting. But is the sound currently preventing you from working? The sound really is a challenge, but it isn’t preventing you from functioning. But what is keeping you?
The element affecting your condition is not the sound of the lawnmower. Yes, the sound is admittedly somewhat bothersome, but it isn’t totally distracting. But if the sound isn’t the issue, then what is the issue? The irritant is the response to the lawnmower noise. Your psychological response that troubles you’re your own voice. Your inner voice is saying something about the lawnmower that is bothersome. And what’s more, your inner voice is insisting that before the noise is gone, you can not get the job done. Let us look at this, because the minute you recognize your inner self talk, that’s the moment that you become nearer to peace.
Your inner voice is talking mechanically. It is commenting on your reality. Some of yourself talk is helpful, but much of it’s merely reactive responses from your ego, and these psychological or dramatic answers are unhelpful. To know how to respond to your self talk needs understanding something about the craft of being centered.
The person that is centered can detect their self discussion. They do not give into it, although they do not deny their inner conversation. A power is in your having the ability to follow yourself talk. It is this: After you listen — without getting wrapped up in the words — the internal voice feels fulfilled its issues have been shared by it. You have listened to the warnings about fact, and it’s happy with that.
You recognize the purpose of the inner self voice. It’s currently hoping to help you, but in its somewhat childlike way. And what would happen if you refused the existence of this inner voice? It generates another issue, as to successfully prevent your internal voice, and that is known as denial, you need to suppress your aliveness. Suppressing your consciousness takes a great deal of energy, and that is devitalizing — and it’s obviously not peaceful.
This is a fascinating paradox — if you want peace, it needs to be present to your self talk, but not taking it seriously. And if you believed that peace was something that you would achieve if you could block your inner voice, think again. People try to block their internal self talk with drugs or alcohol. It doesn’t work, and it has side effects. That means you can have true peace, but now you’ve redefined it a course in miracles. You recognize that inner peace is not some blissful state of ignorance about the world. Inner peace is your capability to keep on breathing and doing whatever you are doing, to notice your reply, and to encounter something.
The very first time you try this, your voice may remind one that you feel stressed, and so this approach isn’t working. Great attempt, inner self voice, but not smart enough. The change to calmness within comes from the being prepared to research this procedure you don’t get results that are total. You cultivate the ability to explore subtle levels of internal peace from moment to moment.
So you have made some discoveries about peace, and you also realize that peace isn’t quite as magical or mysterious as you may have thought. The recognition that peace is lively, present in many forms, may be a revelation to you. This frees you to experience peace as it is, rather than as a rare experience.
Is not that? Something real you could use in the world, daily? Not something that you need to wait around for, or something unattainable and lofty, but something that’s already in you. The resources are yours — your consciousness, and also your willingness to use your awareness to notice your breathing, notice your self talk, and your willingness.