Making a Peace Treaty with Yourself
Keeping peace is important.
It’s very difficult to do anything or produce anything when you are not at peace and are constantly looking over your shoulder.
“If we desire our faith to be strengthened, we should not shrink from opportunities where our faith may be tried, and therefore, through trial, be strengthened.” — George Mueller
There are 2 things that I do which helps to keep the peace.
First, I have a great awareness of what is truly important to me and what I am indifferent about.
If I am going out to dinner with a friend of mine and I prefer a restaurant but really just desire to have food, it’s not worth fighting for that preference if my friend has a strong preference.
The first thing that I do to maintain peace within myself is understanding what matters and what doesn’t.
I may want to go to Ruth’s Chris while my friend thinks Outback Steakhouse is good.
If we go to Ruth’s Chris, I will be pleased and enjoy the food.
If we go to Outback steakhouse, I will be pleased.
Regardless of the restaurant, I will be satisfied. Why then would I make a big deal if we don’t get to go to Ruth’s Chris?
My friend may be super excited about Outback and quite disappointed with Ruth’s Chris.
If it doesn’t make a difference to me, there’s no reason to push for that option.
The second thing that I do is focus on the controllable things much more than the uncontrollable things.
My Mom always told me, “Only complain about things that you are going to do something about.”
And in hindsight, she said that to me and my sister in the most gentle, kind, and loving way. I am so grateful that she taught that to us.
We got to learn it together.
It’s not an easy thing.
If you want a beach day and it begins to rain right after you leave the house, you might feel like complaining. But you definitely shouldn’t. You cannot do anything about that.
You could have been proactive and planned around the weather report.
But, you chose to go and it began to rain.
Now what? Now you react.
You are no longer able to be proactive, you must be reactive.
An acknowledgment of that is one of the most important things that I believe we can do to maintain peace.
The two things that we can all do to keep the peace:
1. Have an awareness of what is truly important to me and what I am indifferent about.
2. Focus on what we can control and react to everything that we cannot
It’s important to keep the peace within ourselves, our energy is precious.
If we fight against ourselves, we will never win.
“Troubles we bear trustfully can bring us a fresh vision of God and a new outlook on life, an outlook of peace and hope.” — Billy Graham