Creating My World Peace Day

Today is World Peace Day.

While I understand & respect that the world is certainly not at peace, the focus of this post is not on the 2 wars the U.S. is currently fighting, nor any of the other conflicts occurring around the world.

Violence in all its forms hurts us all.

This message is one of many future posts about my personal journey toward a peaceful life.  It is about creating my own personal world of peace.  That sounds pretty selfish as I review that last sentence; and I freely admit that I am selfish when it comes to "creating my life".

 As happens for most people, peace has not come easy for me.  And the times it did show up, peace came at the high price of me pretty much shutting down and shutting out the noise of the world.  I discovered I was good at withdrawing into myself and only showing others the happy person that made them feel comfortable.  I suppose most of us do this in one way or another.  Ironically, I'm one of the world's worst liars with a horrible poker face.  I plainly show my emotions on my face...unless I'm hiding from them myself, that is.  Today there is no need to go into the reasons why peace has eluded me.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that giving energy to the reasons would only propel me backwards on my journey.  I found a great quote today on Twitter.  Sadly, it was not attributed to its author so I cannot give credit where it is so richly due:

Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.

I've read many good books that have helped me put the past where it belongs; including "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert, "Seat of the Soul" by Gary Zukav and "The Art of Happiness" by The Dalai Lama.  I have reread them many times, finding myself in a different place on my journey each time.  Particularly when reading "Seat of the Soul" I find that I can open the book to any page and start reading; finding the messages relevant to whatever situation I find myself in at the time.

Thankfully, I can honestly say that I feel more at peace now than at any other time in my life.  I meditate every night and sometimes during the day.  I have long conversations with God and feel comfortable waiting in the silence for answers.  I visualize being somewhere safe and secure as I meditate.  Lately, I've gone back in my memories to the nights when my great-aunt Myra would cradle me in her lap while she rocked me in her giant wicker rocker.  She'd sing gospels and pray fervently while rocking me so far backwards I was certain we'd tip over.  I was about 7 years old or so.  As precarious as that sounds, I felt completely surrounded by love knowing that Aunt Myra would never let anything bad happen to me.  So now I lie down in the darkened room, close my eyes and put myself back in her soft, ample lap.  I smell the lavender powder she always wore.  I hear her singing & praying and I can almost feel the smooth, thin skin of her ancient hands.  And I feel safe...warm...youthful...safe...and at peace.

 Thank you Aunt Myra