14th Mindful Monday Word-Peaceful
Graphic by Joni
Peaceful. Does the word bring you a sense of calm? The dictionary explains it as tranquil, calm, being free from disturbance. If you’re a child of the sixties you know the peace symbol or using your hand with two fingers is another peace sign. Stop to think, what does peace mean to you? What brings you peace? How are you an example of peace?
If you’re looking for inner peace, do the thing that brings you peace. You may enjoy a long walk or a hike, being outdoors in nature and breathing in the air and enjoying your environment. Another person may find peace in listening to calming music, doing yoga or reading a good book. Some may find peace in working on a hobby such as painting, photography or knitting. Is being peaceful important? It sure is! Especially today, we live in a stressful world. To find peace within yourself shines through your attitude, your conversations and you as a person. Your character.
Does a peaceful person just appear? Absolutely not! To find peace takes time and a lot of hard work, is it worth it? It sure is! When you find peace, you have more clarity to embrace your day, the topics you need to address and even with your relationships. As mentioned above, these are a few ideas which bring peace to a being. It’s up to you to find what brings you peace, much like being aware of gratitude, it takes intentions to change and an awareness on steps which you need to do in order to to so. Just knowing these steps are a good start, but know that unless you apply them, you’re not going to find peace.
These are a few steps in which I find my peace to help me become peaceful so that I can be a better version of myself to help those around me:
Surround yourself with sincere people who support you, embrace who you are, your dreams and your goals, people who believe in you with an uplifting spirit.
Walk, when I’m outdoors I truly stop to breathe, I embrace the beauty that surrounds me. I do this with my eyes looking at the trees, flowers, plants and the water, the sky and the animals that are out in the same place I am. I take time to appreciate the sounds of the outdoors, the birds, there are so many birds singing and chirping to one another. Just the other day my daughter said, “mom, I’ve never heard so many song birds” and I replied, “well, we are in Music City” we chuckled as we had just moved to Tennessee. I’m aware of wind flowing through the trees and bushes. I’m aware of the smells of outdoors, fresh cut grass, blooming flowers and even the smelly standing water at times. But, I’m aware and I appreciate these things.
Focus, I’ll admit, my mind is constantly moving, thinking, creating and wandering. When we can focus on what the task at hand is, putting the others aside helps to accomplish at least one of the tasks, marking one thing off the to-do-list. Make post it notes to remind you of what needs to be done and once it’s completed, remove the post it note, making room for the next one, I know, still, feeling a bit of accomplishment and completion brings peace of mind.
Breathe, just breathe. So many times we fill our mind with chaos which takes away from our peace of mind. Breathe. It will get done, have a plan to complete whatever it is you need to do and dive in with a clear mind, a calmness, intentionally completing the task at hand. Taking a few deep breaths really does work!
Journal, take time out of your morning or your evening to journal. You may find peace in writing a verse, something that happened during the day or even to draw or color a picture. It releases whats on your mind and you’re building a book of you, your thoughts, your ideas, your dreams, your hopes, your wishes or your prayers. You’re finding peace. I’ll admit that I started to journal only a few years ago, however, it is something that I taught our children to do as they were growing up. And the truth is, my husband had many vices which I did not agree with, so, I wrote in a journal to bring me peace, and actually, I kept the journal under the mattress of our bed for many years. One day my girlfriend asked me what I was going to do with the journal? Are you going to share it with him? And I wasn’t. It was for me to cope with life and bring peace, to me. I burned it. However, it did bring me peace and today, all three of our adult kids are amazing writers, even published books! So, yes, I’m a fan of writing in a journal to help me to be more peaceful.
Gratitude, I’ve always had a keen awareness of how blessed, lucky whatever you want to call it that I am. I’m certainly not talking about financially, I’m talking about the fact that I have awareness. I’m aware of the people in my life. I’m aware that I have an amazing, supportive husband and children. I’m aware of the beauty that surrounds me. I’m aware that I have a gift of creativity, imagination and good heart. I’m aware that I’m growing in so many areas of my life, and I’m grateful. Something I don’t hear a lot of people speak of is when they give, or volunteer or are helpful to others, the other person may have difficulty accepting their time or heart of giving. That is being selfish. Why? Because people who are of service don’t do things because they expect something out of it, they do it because it makes them feel better and that they can be of service. Therefore, find the words of thanks and accept the gratitude of others. When I started at a new school, the music teacher had no idea I was creative. I offered her my time and talent to help her with her music programs. She had a hard time at first because she didn’t know my capabilities and commitment to helping her out. Well, before you knew it, I was decorating the entire gym, designing posters and using my creativity to bring her program to life! I was soon her go to gal because she liked what I had created for her. I enjoyed every minute of it! Then, when she would bring me a thoughtful gift for my work I had an extremely hard time accepting them.
What I learned was to just say, “thank you” and accept them. I did not set out expecting any sort of gift, I love designing and creating stages. What I learned that it made her feel awful when I did not accept her appreciation. So, when someone offers you their time, their talent, their gratitude, allow them to do so. They are grateful for you, accept it and embrace them.
One of the nine Characters of Character is Warm-Hearted Walrus. Print out the template and use as a sticker chart, a coloring page or a Journal cover. Keep visuals for your children to be reminded to be peaceful. To be kind. And, remember to discuss ways that they can find peace and to be kind. Together, we will make a the world better. Characters of Character is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide a firm foundation for children to establish strong civic values. Be sure to visit us online to see where we’ll be next and some of our projects. We always welcome Sponsors and donations to continue our work and making a difference in the life of a child. Did you know we have books on Amazon? Check it out here.
What is it that brings you peace? You know the old’ cliche’ of “when mama’s not happy, ain’t nobody happy” well, there is some truth about that! Who you are also reflects who your children are. You are their firm foundation to learn and grow with. You are their role model. You are the person that they most likely want to be like when they grow up. With that said, find your peace, pass it on and remember my favorite quote by Benjamin Franklin:
TELL me and I forget, TEACH me and I learn, INVOLVE me and I remember.