5 Ways to Find Peace in the Storm

A Cherokee chief once told his grandson, “There is a battle between two wolves within all of us.”

“One wolf is Evil,” he continued. “It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth.”

The boy asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”

The old man replied, “The one you feed.”

The most powerful voice within you is the voice that gets your attention.

Throughout much of my young life, I was haunted by negative thoughts, fear, shame, and feelings of inferiority. No one knew. I hid it well. When I was in high school, I was active in theatre and music. I was an alto soloist in choir. I had leading roles in all of the high school plays. When I was not on stage, I was a loner. I distanced myself from others because I believed I was unlikeable.

I worked multiple jobs so I could save up enough money to go away to college. I wanted to escape everyone and everything in my hometown and start all over again. I was ready to reinvent myself. Unfortunately, I could not outrun the frightening, intimidating voices because they were tightly wrapped and stored within me.

I evolved into (what appeared to be) a confident, passionate leader on campus. I was president of the student government association. I held leadership positions on university committees. I was in a popular sorority. However, I couldn’t quiet the voices within me that reminded me I was inferior to others. Less than. No good.

I was terrified to tell anyone about the powerful voices within me. I was afraid if anyone found out I heard voices – and allowed the voices to dictate my actions – that I’d be wrapped into a strait jacket and locked into an institution.

When the pain became too great to bear, I contacted the counseling office on campus and arranged an appointment. I told the campus counselor that I was psychotic and delusional. The voices won. I didn’t have to contain them any longer. I felt relieved.

He thank me for my self-diagnosis and asked, “Why do you think you’re delusional?”

“Because I hear voices.” I said. “The voices are vicious. They say I am no good. And broken. And sick.”

“Those are scary voices,” he agreed. “But those voices are coming from inside of you. You have the power to change your own thoughts.”

Did you know you had the power to change your own thoughts? I didn’t! Critical self-talk is like an old hat: if you don’t like it, don’t wear it. Telling someone freed me from a prison of secrecy.

“Your life just doesn’t happen,” insisted Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. “Whether you know it or not, it is carefully designed by you.” Although mistakes and painful events may have created heartbreak in your past, you have the power within you to change your present. And your future.

“You choose happiness. You choose sadness. You choose courage. You choose fear,” Covey added. “Just remember that every moment, every situation, provides a new choice. And in doing so, it gives you a perfect opportunity to do things differently to produce more positive results.”

“We decide what we want to see before we see it,” explained Marianne Williamson, author of A Return to Love. “Projection makes perception.” When Williamson faces difficult situations, she often says to herself – and encourages others to say – I could see peace instead of this.

We find whatever it is we are looking for in our lives. You can choose fear – or you can choose peace. Get out of the problem and jump into the solution with these tips when you want to find peace in the storm within or swirling around you:

1. Acknowledge and take responsibility for your own feelings. Denying your feelings pushes them deeper within you. Admitting negative feelings is an invitation to take action and to look for good where you do not see it. It allows you to deal with and release them.
2. Admit when you feel stuck – and take action to do something about it. Read material that uplifts and strengthens you. Watch an uplifting video. Journal about your feelings. Talk to someone.
3. Find support when you need it. Isolation, especially when you are suffering, serves no one. Surround yourself with people who believe in you.
4. Allow time for prayer or quiet reflection. Be open to Divine guidance. Say to yourself, “I could feel peace instead of this.”
5. Create positive affirmations. Affirmations quiet negative thoughts and strengthen your ability to focus deliberate intention on a desired outcome. When you declare a positive affirmation, you acknowledge your own strengths and invite positive results into your reality.

“A miracle is always available in any situation,” contends Williamson, “because no one can decide for you how to interpret your own experience.” The miracle is a shift in your own thinking. Every day offers an invitation to be open to live with an open heart, regardless of the circumstances that may storm around you.

There are two emotions from which all other feelings flow: love and fear. When there is darkness in a room, you turn on the light. When there is darkness in your heart, turn on the love.

You get to choose.

How do you find peace of mind and heart?

 

Discover how to write positive affirmations with these suggestions from Put the Positive in Your Affirmation.

Reprogram your own thoughts with tips from Replace Old Tapes with New Messages.

Find 8 Ways to Feel Positive (Even When Everything Seems Wrong).