Nothing can bring you peace but yourself – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Down through the ages and throughout all parts of the world, people have sought inner peace. Yet around the world, in the home and at work many people’s lives are filled with stress. Perhaps the roots of discontent are caused by the ways we live our daily lives.

Our first step to inner peace can be the realisation that when anger, irritation, or feelings of upset arise within us, it is not the fault of some other person or thing. It is important to realise that change needs to occur within us. We can’t just blame other people.

There is a great power in the peaceful response, and today is the day to put it into practice in each experience until our way of life becomes peaceful. The way we perceive a situation can be more important than the circumstances. We know that by transforming ourselves, we transform our world. Reaching out from our centre of peaceful power, we can create new solutions and new possibilities.

We need to make time for quiet periods to centre ourselves and for walks in nature. Constant activity without rest leads to exhaustion. The rhythm of the tides is one of withdrawal and return, of going out and coming in. Likewise we can withdraw into silence and rest, then return with renewed strength to our outer activities. Unless the spring receives a fresh supply of water, it cannot continue to flow and quench the thirst. It needs to receive in order to give.