Life is not easy without inner peace. But so many of us have it backwards as we try to change our external world in the hope of creating a peaceful life.  The reality is that when we find peace inside ourselves, the external world matters far less. We tell ourselves: if I can just get through this meeting tomorrow, if I can just make it to the weekend, if I just had a different job, if I just lived somewhere else, THEN I would be happy. We blame the outside world for our dis-ease with the way things are in our present life.

What you resist, persists. We fight it all day long, all the annoying things big and small in our lives. It causes anxiety as we constantly want to change things or wish things would be better in the future. The more we focus on the negative, the more we feel the negative, the more negative we feel. It is a vicious cycle that feeds on itself, spinning us into a downward spiral. We create a story and this narrative creates an identity for ourselves that sees life through the lens of good or bad, right or wrong, black or white. We get caught up in this story about how we are experiencing life but our story is only an affirmation of what we want to believe and blame for our anxiety. Nevertheless, our daily life gets consumed by these stories and robbing us of the richness of the moment.

There is only real beauty in this moment, everything else is just a distraction. When we are at peace, we are not pushing against, or resisting, anything other than this precious moment. We are not worrying about traffic tomorrow or the boss from hell or how to deal with a difficult relative. Yes, you will have to face all this but at this moment it only serves as a distraction, an obsessive thought, a worry. Of course, planning may need to be involved on future events but do it with intention and clarity without getting sucked into your negative story. Stay objective with mindful awareness and constantly shift back to the present. Identification with your story robs you of the richness of now.

Our being, our very essence, finds peace in what is, even when this what is is not perfect or even comfortable to deal with. When we surrender to what is, when we stop resisting, it allows us to have power in our lives and therefore relieve some of the stress. We just go with the flow rather than fighting every future-oriented obstacle. Challenges will undoubtedly come your way but to agonize over them incessantly robs you of enjoying this precious present moment. Make peace with living in this moment, because as we resist, our minds are constantly whirling in the future never content with being here in the now. Our bodies hold this tension and it manifests into the inside–out phenomenon in the form of psoriasis, headaches, IBS, shingles, etc.

It is easy to get caught up in our stories, our internal drama. Try to be mindfully aware of this constant loop tape whirling in your mind and break free from the cycle. When we are in the moment with intention, it is a thoughtful process that is like putting all the pieces of a mosaic together. Each moment feels like a completion, as our Mind is simply here, now, resting in the moment of what is.