INNER PEACE #2

 INNER PEACE #2

https://www.positivityblog.com/inner-peace/

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/09/02/clutter/ 

We started looking at inner peace yesterday.  The ability to find peace when there is conflict all around us is important to keep our sanity.  

I’ve read of Nazi concentration camps - with prisoners finding that inner peace.  (I want to think of it as the “Peace that passes understanding” - true peace.)

To me, it is a peace that is inside you no matter what.  I also think of Buddist monk finding that inner peace through meditation and yielding life systems to that deep peace.

Let’s look more at the article:

-5 Unclutter your world, unclutter your mind.

Sometimes we have too much “stuff”.  This last week (preparing for these blogs), I looked through my kitchen cabinets.  I have lived in my apartment for almost two years (the end of October will be two years).  I was trying to identify things that I haven’t used in those two years.  I took two bags and a large box of things to the Salvation Army thrift shop.  The concept is if you haven’t used it in two years, get rid of it.  

Unfortunately, in this new environment (582 square feet), I don’t have enough room for everything.  Simplicity is part of inner peace.  (And, I haven’t reached that yet).  

Coupled with #5 is:

-6 Use a minimalistic workspace.

I have a desk - but it can be a ‘dumping ground.  On my desk currently are my computer (that I used way-too-much every day), my printer, two new unused ink cartridges - (I knew it was coming and my black ink ran out yesterday, and the color ran out four months ago).  I have a lamp, a box of tissues, sunglasses, two facial masks, my pillbox, four pens, a screwdriver, staple, a container for stamps, cards, and miscellaneous small papers (which needs to be cleaned), pictures of the triplets, headset, and clear nail polish.  Why I have some of this on my desk, I don’t know!!!  (And, while writing this paragraph, I threw about six things in the trash!!!  And when I am finished, I will put the screwdriver back in my ‘junk drawer’ (where I have kept screwdrivers for quick use for years), put the nail polish in the bathroom cabinet, put the masks on the counter with the other 42 masks (okay, maybe with ten other masks).  

So, on the “unclutter” and ‘minimalistic workspace’ topics I fail.

I am reminded of a story (that I don’t know is true) about President Dwight Eisenhower who had a goal by the end of the day to have a clean desk.  Seemingly at the end of the day, he took his arm and just slid everything off his desk into his desk drawer.  Yes, he had a clean desktop by the end of the day - but not quite a clean desk drawer!!!

There is a saying “A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered mind” (supposedly attributed to Albert Einstein, but probably not).  

Another source said, “Orderliness and cleanliness are two important factors in efficiency. A disordered desk is evidence of a disordered brain and a disordered character.”

*****

-7 Be ten minutes early!!!

Being late (to almost anything) means rushing, arriving out-of-breath, and not prepared for the meeting/event.  Yes, I am retired and I have the luxury of more time - but I do like being early rather than being late!!

-8 Accept and let go!!

If there is anything in this list of things leading to inner peace, this is it.  Shakespeare (in Macbeth - Act V) has Lady Macbeth saying “What’s done cannot be undone”. 

Letting go of old things gets the trash out.  It is taking that potential mountain and making it back into a molehill (point 3).  If you were wrong, apologize, if you were right, still apologize.  We all do stupid things.  Get over it.  As soon as you can accept the past, you can move into the present.

-9 Ask instead of guessing.

The article says, “So ask and communicate instead. It may sometimes be a bit hard at first but it can save you and the people around you so much trouble in the long run.”

If I am trying to guess on a situation, it puts that stress back in life.  Ask, clarify, understand, and live with whatever the situation is!!!

*****

WOW - I got through five items today, and four yesterday - and if I can get six tomorrow, we will be done with the article (and, I can go deeper!!!)

See you tomorrow!!!

LOVE WINS!!!

HUGS!!

Karen