This Is What Protecting Your Peace Really Entails
Protecting your peace means being okay with canceling plans when you’re overwhelmed, and taking a few hours out every week to just relax and reconnect with yourself.
By Lee Tshetlo
People will always have something to say, and not everything said will be positive. It’ll be overwhelming hearing criticism and advice from strangers and loved one alike at times, and the key thing is that despite how loud the noise around you may get, you need to keep still within. With anxiety looming over most of us all the time, perhaps keeping still during such times is a little harder to do. That’s where protecting your peace comes in. On social media, we see so many people talking about protecting their peace, but they rarely ever talk about exactly how they do it.
Humble yourself enough to welcome positive noise
One thing that protecting one’s peace is not, is blocking out the voices of others. We are created to be social beings, and we thrive when we feel a sense of community. Therefore, cutting people’s words out completely can be more harmful than beneficial. Self-awareness and discernment are key factors in this process because when you know who and what you are, and can tell the difference between positive and negative words, you can absorb positive criticism and use that to build a better version of yourself as you navigate through this journey called life.
Keep your (positive) circle big
A sense of community gives one assurance that they are never alone. No matter how dark your days get, those you keep around you can either worsen or better how you feel in such moments. Be sure to keep positive people around you. Notice how I said positive, not necessarily like-minded people. Which brings me to this important bit of advice: Don’t cut everyone who doesn’t agree with you out, either. There is some good that comes from disagreement because it’s in disagreement that your perspective on life changes/expands. That’s a part of the growing process. The truth is that you don’t know everything, so embrace healthy debate and be empathetic. There are a significant number of people that possess so much more wisdom than you, so be sure to catch that out and welcome into matter how painful it may be.
Alone time is good
Taking time out to meditate and re-center your thoughts is a great way to be at peace. Protecting your peace means being okay with canceling plans when you’re overwhelmed, and taking a few hours out every week to just relax and reconnect with yourself. Keeping a journal helps with this because you’ll get physical evidence of where your mind is at. You can jot down anything from two you feel to what you did in the past day/week/month. The point is that alone time gives you a chance to be honest with yourself and re-evaluate how to navigate out of stressful/overwhelming situations.
Let the haters hate
You can’t avoid negative talk, that’s a given fact. It’s a lot easier to plot your rise from the ashes while haters ridicule you for failing. Failure is inevitable, and it’s a stepping stone (i.e. not a roadblock). The trick to winning when you’re faced with a stressful situation is allowing the negative noise to fuel your come-back. It’s okay to be upset or mad about it, but never retaliate or react to it. That’ll just make the noise louder, and make you look like a fool. Don’t do that, love yourself. Don’t let the haters run out of a job by giving up, because they’ll get tired of ridiculing you and move not the next victim. People will talk about you because they’re embarrassed to talk about their own failures, remember that.
Keep your mind clean
By “clean,” I mean positive. Eat well, exercise when you can and condition your thinking with positive affirmations. You’re greater than you think, and sometimes reminding yourself of this will keep you at peace. Be sure to recite positive affirmations to yourself in the mirror every morning, or whenever you feel overwhelmed. A positive mind governs a positive body (person), I firmly believe in this principle. Too much negativity can bring you to a really dark place very quickly, so be sure to not leave space in your mind any negative thought.
May you find peace at all times, in everything you do and everywhere you go. Love and light, to you and yours.