To find a little peace.

Give me peace.

There have been many times in my life that I have found myself in the need of a little peace, as do well all from time to time. All of my friends seem to be aware when it is best that I go and have a walk on my own. My wife made commented as we walked yesterday that she knew this to be the case and that she was aware at other times that I was very happy to have company as long as the company did not want to speak the whole time or duration of the walk. I acknowledged that this was very preceptive of her and as I walked onward I mulled this over.

I looked back over the duration of my life to this point and made a little discovery that I must have noticed before. When choosing what to do in life I have most if not always chosen to do things that I can do alone. I have never been afraid of my own company or the inward-looking that brings.

I never took part in sports that involved teams I always chose those that could be done alone. Even my job as a minister meant spending a great deal of time in the company of a great many people but still operating as an individual.

returning to my walk and my pondering I thought that much of my time alone, my Tai Chi and my study and meditation times were the moments that secured my greatest inner peace. I never agreed with the title, "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner." I found those long runs a great source of inner peace.

What is peace? it is not just the absence of war or inner torture, peace is something that is positive it is a time of harmony and a contentment with life. This can even be the same for nations and countries. 

It deeply concerns me when I hear leaders say that what we need are armed guards at church and synagogue services of worship. What have we come to and how can we ever find true peace if we need to have armed guards?

Her is a rather frightening fact.

Since the beginning of recorded history, the entire world has been at peace less than eight per cent of the time! In its study,  of 3530 years of recorded history, only 286 years saw peace. 

Moreover, in excess of 8000 peace treaties were made, and broken. 

In such inner peace becomes more important. What do I mean by inner peace?

1) The absence of suspicion and resentment. Nursing a grudge is a major factor in unhappiness, and that is a sure sign of a lack of inner peace. 

2) Not living in the past. An unwholesome preoccupation with old mistakes and failures leads to depression. 

3) Not wasting time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change. Cooperate with life, instead of trying to run away from it. 

4) Force yourself to stay involved with the living world. Resist the temptation to withdraw and become reclusive during periods of emotional stress. 

5) Refuse to indulge in self-pity when life hands you a raw deal. Accept the fact that nobody gets through life without some sorrow and misfortune. 

6) Cultivate the old-fashioned virtues, love, humour, compassion and loyalty. 

7) Do not expect too much of yourself. When there is too wide a gap between self-expectation and your ability to meet the goals you have set, feelings of inadequacy are inevitable. 

8) Find something bigger than yourself to believe in. Self-centred egotistical people score lowest in any test for measuring happiness. 

In other words as Lao Tzu constantly reminds me, "Go with the flow."