Where is the Peace?
18 September 2024 Daily Meditation
“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.” —Peace Pilgrim
Let’s pause for a moment today to ask these questions: What gives you peace? Do you have the peace you want in your life?
When I started the journey to become an online coach, it was because I felt a calling to help others. Actually, it was because I still felt a calling to help others. This has been my work since 1982. This time, when I heard the voice in my head, it was a bit different. It said,
“Help them find peace.”
What does that mean? I asked myself. I spent some time exploring the question and looking back at the people I’d worked with since becoming an addiction counselor and family therapist, many years before. I knew that working online, I wouldn’t be so effective with people in early recovery, and I thought about the times I’d needed help over the years of my own recovery…
Here’s the direction the inquiry went: Wasn’t it when my own spirituality was at a loss or in confusion? I thought about the times I’d felt like I was wandering in the dark. At times I felt angry at “God” as I understood God. At times I felt recovery just wasn’t working the way it was promised to me, or the way I interpreted that promise. Weren’t these questions people were still grappling with?
I even thought of the times I just felt, “Is this all there is?” I’ve certainly had those times! I heard people asking this now more than ever!
And what about the times, stone cold sober, that I screwed up? Yup, we certainly make mistakes in recovery. Nobody likes to talk about these times, either.
Slowly, I came to realize that these were the times I lost my peace. Or lost my way. Or both. And there are a wealth of terrible things going on in the world now, where people have reason to feel a loss of peace.
I have had lots of times where I am at peace, these days. I worked hard to develop spiritual tools and practices to keep my peace in the midst of the world’s turmoil. But I have had lots of times where I am in turmoil, too. And I have had lots of times in the flats…nobody talks about the flats. Those are the times where you are just tredding water. Life is neither good nor bad, up nor down, black nor white. Flat.
The difference is having those spiritual tools to navigate and stay in balance despite what is storming inside or outside one’s person.
Because in our culture we are trained to think it is supposed to be all highs. We are taught to seek the goals, and when we reach one goal, aim higher for the next! So what happens when you reach the pinnacle, and there’s still a lot of life left to live? What then?
This is the point of seeking a different way of living. The point of seeking peace. This is why people seek a spiritual path. Because then the joy is in the journey, not just the destination. And it is important to know that there is not just “one way”, or just one spiritual path. It is important to find your own way.
Ahhhhh.
You know! This is the stuff of stop and smell the roses! Take time for gratitude! Look Ma, there’s a rainbow!
Yeah, that stuff! It’s about recognizing that the glass is half full, and slowing your pace enough to see what is flying by you as you race along heading toward your goal.
But it’s about much, much more than that, too…it’s about the stuff that dwells deep down inside of you, that is personal to you only and needs support and nurturing and to find a way out.
So if that works, how come we all don’t do it? See, that’s the secret! We all carry all kinds of things we have picked up along the way, that block our vision, hinder our journey, impede our joy.
That’s my job! I help you uncover your blocks, learn new tools, slow your roll, find a new spiritual path. I’m a deep listener, and I will give you feedback about what I hear that might open a few new doors for you.
Because we can see it all for someone else, but it’s nigh onto impossible to see it in ourself. That’s the job of a coach! And if your coach is someone who has walked the path, been there with others, and is a spiritual seeker herself, she might have some tools to help you navigate to a different place.
Here’s my offer: go to my page, https://coachingpeace.net and take a look at my work, and take a look here at substack at some of my other writings. If you see something that resonates, you will see a link on coachingpeace.net to sign up for a free exploratory session. Take the leap! We’ll have 45 minutes to sit down and talk about what is blocking your peace.
If we find something worth exploring, you can sign up for a block of coaching sessions to go further. If not, no harm, no foul. I offer individual, family and some coursework as well. Check it out!
You’ve heard me say it…
Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in.
Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out.
It all starts there for me.
Where does it start for you? Let’s find out.
Namaste!