SleepingOrchid

Peace – Serenity – Peace Is Possible

DREAMS – Do your dreams involve beaches, vacation, relaxation, memories of happy times when you had nothing to do but enjoy yourself by reveling in the moment? These happy dreams are prophecies of the peace and serenity that bedeck our future just as they greeted us when we first came into the world.

Peace is Possible. Serenity is an Idea. Most of us are familiar with the “serenity prayer” written by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; taking this world as it is and not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right.“

The Serenity Prayer works as an inoculation against pointless worry, which is seen as “borrowing trouble.”

Challenge – Like meditation, serenity is a mental state that takes practice. Make a list of your most pressing concerns. Can you do anything about any of them today? If so, appoint a time when you will take a step towards resolving this concern. If you can’t do anything about it, put it forcefully out of your mind. Imagine your worries as a bunch of balloons. Now let them go, one by one. Put each useless worry on a piece of paper and burn them slowly, one by one. Choose a “mantra” a word or phrase you find comforting and centering, and repeat it out loud to yourself. St. Julian of Norwich recommended: ”All will be well”, Coué offered, “Every day, in every way I am getting better and beter”, some yoga enthusiasts chant a simple “Om.” You can use a phrase from your own past said to you by a Beloved Person – “now you’ll be fine” “You’re safe” “You’re perfect” “Everything’s all right”or the tried and true: “I love you.” My favorite is from Revelation: “Every tear wiped away.”

Danger – FOMO: Fear of Missing Out – We are all worried about “missing” something. Often that “centering person”, that reassuring person from our past is not just the one who gave us the relaxation code, but is also the same one who told us what to worry about: ie.”Make sure all the locks are locked” “Have you done your homework?” There certainly are things to be concerned about (“Are you registered to vote?”) but there are plenty of worries we CAN’T address. (“Is your bank safe?”) Return to the serenity prayer and start weeding out – on paper – your Justifiable concerns. One of the best things about Anxiety – and I mean this – is that it offers an opportunity to ask for help. Yes, I say “opportunity”! Because life is all about RELATIONSHIPS. So worries actually can offer us a unique chance to forge meaningful, worthwhile relaionships with Someone Else. Who? It depends. Get ready to experiment. As with any other relationship in your life, your requirements, tolerance, communication goals are unique. Many people yearn to speak to a “professional” – therapist or life coach – and plenty of professionals out there are auditioning for a little – or a lot – of your hard-earned cash. An excellent place to start is with Proven Gurus like Tolle Eckhart or Pema Chodon who can be accessed from any library. See what you think. Evaluate their assistance. Inquire further.

Opportunity – Now is a perfect moment to consider the power of lucid dreaming. Lucid dreams are INTENTIONAL. Imagine that! You could go to that happy place ANY TIME you needed it and, best of all, use your night time rest as an staging arena and your “happy place” as a vessel you can pour your subsconscious into. We have worries we don’t even know about yet! But we also have powerful forces on our side. Practice sleeping to “special music” with a mental picture of your “happy place.” Aaah.

MANTRA

I DESERVE PEACE