inner peace.

Few days ago, my bro and I watched Kung Fu Panda 2 for the nth time. The movie tells about finding inner peace against all oppositions. Like what Master Shifu says to Po:

"Find inner peace within yourself and you will find happiness." 

Everyone has a certain amount of emotional baggage they carry with them everywhere. The idea of finding inner peace is to offload this baggage so you can feel light, healthy, vibrant, free and maybe one day even enlightened. 

The path to inner peace is not simple or short. You cannot just wake up one day and decide you are going to have inner peace from that point forward. It is a process, a journey that needs to be appreciated every step of the way. You need to be willing to let go and accept your full spectrum of emotions. You need to be ready to step outside the box you have allowed yourself to be put into and start from scratch, getting to know yourself all over again and be willing to make mistakes. And most importantly, you have to realize that only you have control over your emotional responses and reactions and they can be changed for the better.

So we're talking serious matter here...pero di naman deadly serious noh.? hehe So I was feeling two conflicting emotions at the same time last week. Ever happened to you? The adventurous side of me, which worries sometimes that it isn’t getting enough expression in my life saying: " Hey, it's your day off ,you work hard why not try and do something bold like go out for a walk with friends so you know you're alive." But another part of me wasn't so sure. It just didn’t seem to want to do anything too exciting or dramatic at all. I went and sat for a few minutes grasping some air...always a good idea if I need a little help clarifying my mind about something. Since I have nothing to do that time, I went to the garden and refresh my memories. Off with a big sigh.* 

A few minutes of meditating...kung meditate ba tawag dun..hehe I felt fulfilled, and rested. I felt nourished. Sometimes life demands that we be bold, and daring, and take a huge step into the unknown regardless of any uncertainty or anxiety we may feel, and no matter what the cost may be. There is no guarantee at all things will work out the way we hope they will — but we sense deep in our bones that our very destiny is at stake. Sometimes,  simple and familiar is good. Oh, so good. May we have the wisdom to know what really needs to be done in any particular situation, and may our lives prosper because of it. 

The secret to clearing your issues is to take your ship out of the harbor and interact with others. This is a vital part of learning about yourself. If you have ever heard one important thing to remember in your life on this earth, remember this: Anything you see in others, you have in yourself also and any judgment you make towards another, is really about you. This applies to both “good” and “bad” things you recognize. An example of what this means is if you react in anger towards someone who is crying, having no compassion for their situation, it could be you are angry with yourself when you get sad, seeing it as week and don’t ever allow yourself to cry. When you refuse to accept something in yourself, you also will not accept it in others. We need to start looking at the way we react to people and to situations. We need to work on smoothing these “buttons” we all have everywhere, because you can’t find inner peace if you are constantly judging yourself and others. This is process of learning and being willing to admit to yourself and others when you are wrong. This is a cure way to learn a lot about yourself very quickly! There is more good news - you can also own your admiration. This means all the things you admire or maybe are even jealous of in others, you have in yourself also. Maybe you have always admired the guy next door for his ease on the basketball court, yet he practices every day and disciplines himself. You know deep down if you did that too, you could be just as good. You can choose to realize this is where your jealousy comes from, and use it to change yourself through your new self awareness or sit around in bitterness and jealousy, denying your own undeveloped talents. Just go with the past and let go.

You will have to let go of control to find inner peace. This is control you have over any one in your life and control over life itself. One thing you can’t do if you want peace, is give anyone else power over your feelings. When you try to control someone, ultimately they are controlling you. If you feel you need to monitor someone’s every move, or have them be with you all the time, you are really restricting yourself to the same. You have to develop trust and let go of fear. I just learned from the drama I just recently watched.

It is about developing emotional intelligence and allowing people to live their life without being responsible for your reactions. Trust those who say they love you and trust every interaction you have. Don’t be trying to read into things, there’s no point. What other people think is none of your business and you will never be guaranteed to work it out, so just let it go. This won’t happen in a day, but keep working on yourself. Any time you catch yourself wondering what someone says or thinks about you when you’re not around, just make a point to change your mind to something else. If you keep doing it, you will re-train your mind, and before you know it, you will be free from the opinions of others.

Why would anyone want to bother with all this inner peace stuff? To end the cycle of ups and downs, emotions popping up when you don’t want them too, interactions with others become diplomatic and helpful and you will be able to experience an inner calm and confidence that words can not describe. You will no longer have petty conversations that are full of gossip and bragging, but will begin to talk about ideas and events that are interesting and positive. What you put out, you really get back in life. So if you think and feel negatively towards others, you will think and feel negative about yourself as well. So be positive in every way, and you will definitely find happiness within yourself. 

 Don’t waste precious time or energy on what others are doing with their lives, and learn not to take anything personally. Whenever someone makes a decision as to how they spend their own time or energy, it is their decision to make, so don’t go sticking your nose in where it isn't wanted and don’t think it is all about you. There is no way you can know the repercussions of your advice of judgments towards others, so keep your lips sealed even when the urge seems overwhelming to give your opinion. It is not your place, and unless you have been overcome with some phenomenal amount of wisdom and perfectionism straight from the heavens, you don’t have the answers and shouldn't act like you do.

Meditate. After enlightenment, you would be in the moment, your mind free and peaceful as you are in a consistent state of satisfaction, regardless of where you are and what you are doing. In this way, if you first begin to become aware of the thoughts you have while trying to be in the moment, you will be able to release or confront each issue and continue to work towards a clear mind and relaxed body. The goal is to be totally involved in the task at hand without prejudice.

Self-acceptance is important and you have to remember not to be hard on yourself. We are all here on this earth learning and growing everyday. When you first begin to open your eyes and become more self aware, you may start to feel a newfound sense of shame, embarrassment, defiance or inadequacies. This is a good thing. The first step to healing is to see the problems and issues you have. Then you are in a place where you can work from. Be willing to embrace your faults and realize these are your issues to overcome so you can experience personal growth. Going through life thinking you are perfect is not the way to learn anything and it is through hard times, trials and challenges that you really grow. Be prepared to throw yourself into situations where you will make mistakes, as you will probably learn the most about yourself.~

I send love and blessings and hope you have a wonderful day and a wonderful Holy week.