(I’m giving away my book for a short period of time. And: can you help me help? See below for details.)
___________
Why do I value peace above all things?
Why do I see it as not a nice to have, but an absolute bottom line necessity?
Because peace is the glue that allows everything that is good. It is the foundation to calm, clear, creative, enjoyable and meaningful living.
Truly: ALL good comes from prioritising peace first.
But that’s not how our world does it.
We attempt to tick off our to do lists, tease out the problems, rearrange the past and solve the future to our satisfaction … we try and do, do, do, and only then maybe get to peace – and all because we don’t see how valuable it is. Peace feels like a trivial thing compared with tackling all the challenges we need to tackle.
You want – nay, you NEED – to prioritise your peace because then ALL of life, even the problems, become simple.
Challenges are the stuff of life, for sure. Life IS illness and newborns and plan changes and the unexpected. Even this plague that is upon us: it may be rare, but it’s not unheard of.
Yet when you prioritise peace you’re making the foundation of your whole life one of calm, clarity and ease. From there you can truly deal with these challenges – from a completely different, more effective, even more enjoyable, place.
You don’t waste your energy on the things you have no control over. Which is brilliant. You leave alone the things you can’t do anything about. You channel your focus very precisely, and sleep well too.
You think clearer, you get more creative and intuitive. When you’re flying off the handle, you just see problems. Get still and calm and you start to see solutions. It’s not just a cliche, it’s true.
You become a rock for everyone around you. While their mind is freaking out, you are a source of tangible calm, a point of stability and certainty: something to cling to when it seems like the world is falling into chaos.
You also get better physical health. Mental and emotional stress alone destroys our immunity, it causes our DNA to fry. Peace, calm, and ease promotes healing and rejuvenation.
Prioritising your peace is not a luxury, it’s not a nice to have. It’s a necessity.
And it’s never too late to do.
How?
Great question.
Part of it is an approach, an attitude thing.
Make peace first and last. Devote your whole day to it – and then explore.
Manyu, a fellow Ishaya monk, loves to get people to play with the following:
Assume this is the only moment that exists. Just here. Let this be enough. Arrive, be in this moment, stay awhile. Breathe deep, let go. You can get back to everything in a minute, but for now … surrender to this.
The more you do this the more you’ll find you can do it anytime, anywhere, even in the middle of action. The more you practice, the more the presence of now calls you, the easier it will be to remember.
Start now, return when you forget. Return, return, return.
Prioritise your peace – protect your peace, it’s so important.
_____________
I’m giving away my book, “200% - An Instruction Manual for Living Fully”, for free.
As we’ve been talking about, calm is contagious; it’s the greatest thing you can do for yourself and everyone around you.
Take a moment for a read and a cuppa for some calm, clarity and ease.
Here’s the free kindle download link. Enjoy! Share it around.
UK Link:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/200-Instruction-Manual-Living-Fully-ebook/dp/B07K4W6QPX
US Link:
https://www.amazon.com/200-Instruction-Manual-Living-Fully-ebook/dp/B07K4W6QPX
It’s valid from:
Friday 10th April – 8am UK time
(12am PDT — 7pm NZ time)
until
Wednesday 14th April – 7.59am UK time
(Tues 11.59pm PDT — Wed 6.59pm NZ time)
Also -
Can you help me help?
I want to donate my time.
If you have a community, a group, a team, any kind of platform that would like to hear about how to stay calm and at peace in times of complete uncertainty and confusion, I’m available.
Webinars, podcasts, interviews ... whatever and whoever, I’d love to share what I know as a monk and a teacher.
I’ve worked with the military, Met Police, athletes, parents, entrepreneurs as well as perhaps your more “traditional” meditation people, so can speak to wide range of life experience.
Message me, and we’ll get organised.
And if you like this, please share. Help me help.
Thank you. Let me know what I can do for you.