Always Choose Peace

 

Photo Credit: Bhagwad Gita

Always Choose Peace

In these days of human conflict, maintaining one’s own peace has become a huge challenge. When a person feels danger there is only one way that our body responds to the perceived danger, whether it is a threat to our life from a wild animal or a hostile, angry exchange with a colleague. The response usually comes in the form of a ‘fight or flight’ response based on our instant analysis made by our brain as the response releases adrenaline and cortisol into our bloodstream.

Such instantaneous response is actually harmful for us when we are not responding to actual physical attacks where we need to fight or flee, it is also harmful in another way: Instead of being able to act in alignment with our values, we fall to the level of habitual responses. This is purely reactional!

Choosing peace is something we can train ourselves to do by practicing yoga and meditation. There are martial arts forms which also train us to maintain our peace – but his kind of peace comes with the practitioner knows that his peace comes from a place of power and strength and confidence in one’s own skill.

The choice is usually in the mind – and the mind is always the place for conflict. You will always be deciding – yes-no, should I-shouldn’t I and so on. If the mind is at peace the body automatically follows. Through meditation learn to communicate with the self and the guidance from within will always be available. The choice becomes easy.

Choosing peace becomes a choice – whenever you meet anyone, interact with anyone, go somewhere, acquire something – always ask yourself – whether the end result of whatever you are doing is going to maintain your peace or grab it from you!

Ask that for everything. People you would like to be with, possessions you would like to acquire. It doesn’t matter what you want to do; strike that against the touchstone of peace. “Will this rob me of my peace?” If the answer is, “Yes, you must choose peace or the other thing,” - then you should always choose peace. If the answer is, “My peace will not be disturbed by it,” okay, you can have that and still have your peace. That should be our aim.