Peace - How to Achieve It Stress is created in the mind. Situations do not create stress, your beliefs about them do. Jim sees a yard full of leaves and starts pressuring himself to rake it. Meanwhile, his next-door neighbor, Harry, observes the same sight, and, recognizing he has other priorities, walks right past, without guilt or consternation. Jim can’t release the obsession to clean up the mess. Harry has no pressure because he has placed his peace of mind ahead of the yard waste. Jim’s belief that in order to be a good person, you must have a clean yard plagues him. Even though, he knows there is no time for yard work, he is burdened. Instead, he could focus on matters at hand. This would necessitate self control and a redefinition of the prerequisites to being a “good person”. Beliefs of this sort, and the ensuing pressure they create, keep the mind disorganized. Contrarily, peace can be achieved by making it the priority. Let yourself off the hook. What’s more important than peace of mind? Putting peace at the top of your list makes sense. Many are unwilling to put themselves on their list at all, much less at the top. “I’ll get to my needs when everything else is finished.” It’s no surprise then, when the day is over, you’re still waiting your turn. If we each dedicated an hour daily to creating peace of mind, the world would be calmer, brighter, and more hopeful. Leisurely walk, appreciate the sunshine, glorify in nature, sit quietly, fantasize a perfect life, read a positive book, smell the flowers, breathe deeply, write yourself a love note, meditate. The possibilities are endless. Often, this kind of restructuring takes place when illness strikes in a family. Suddenly the messy yard, dusty furniture, or other important work lose significance. Health comes first. There is no guilt as tasks are ignored. The patient comes first (perhaps you are the patient). Don’t wait for an emergency to include yourself on the priority list. Do anger, people pleasing and worry about the neighbors come before generating calmness? What beliefs do you hold that interfere with serenity?