This past year, we’ve all felt the turbulence in the world and we’re guessing that you’ve felt it in your personal life as well.
This past week in the USA, we’ve had upheaval like we’ve never seen before and it’s looked like peace and love were way out of reach.
So what do you do when the outside world is in turmoil or when your personal life has been turned upside down?
Here are 3 ways to find some peace and love in turbulent times–whether it’s your personal unset or upheaval in the larger world around you…
1. Recognize that difficult things do happen in life
We all go through difficult circumstances–
*Losing jobs or promotions
*Broken relationships
*People we love passing from this earth
*A myriad of disappointments about what we thought we wanted but didn’t get
And the list goes on and on.
It happens and then if we allow it…
That circumstance fades away and an opportunity appears.
We’ve found that when you recognize that ups and downs in life do happen…
You don’t have to hang onto them, along with the stories that you make up about that circumstance.
When you see that life flows if you allow it to and you don’t have to stay stuck in the fearful stories that it will always be “that” way.
There is peace and love for yourself when you do this.
2. Focus in the direction of what you want
Let’s use the example of a partner who has deeply upset you in some way…
How do you find peace and love when you feel only anger and judgment?
What you don’t want to do is paste a “happy face” on top of your upset and anger.
But what would help you love yourself more is look in the direction of what you want.
Look beyond making your partner pay for what he or she did.
Acknowlege your disappointment and look toward what you want.
Be honest with yourself and allow your partner to be honest with you.
In that honesty, you’ll find more peace and love but maybe not in the way you think it should look like.
When you drop the “shoulds” and look with honesty at “what is,” you’ll see other possibilities that you hadn’t seen before.
Peace and love do emerge inside you when you allow the stories of what you think “should” happen die away.
Peace, love and calm do surface expectantly when you allow them to.
3. Stop and ask yourself an important question
That question is this…
“Is what I’m saying or doing helping or harming the situation?”
When you pause to consider this question, you give yourself the opportunity to “reset” yourself and the situation.
You have the opportunity in that moment to open as love and see what’s real…
Separating out the stories you might be living from from the truth of who you are, moving past your “stinkin thinking” and creating a fearful future.
You can decide to be easy about whatever has happened and not be hard on yourself or others.
Give yourself permission to be kind to yourself by doing something you haven’t done in a long time.
A coaching client decided to give herself permission to sleep more and another one decided to start painting again.
When you choose a loving action for yourself or for the people you’re with…
You choose peace.
When you choose to keep an argument going even though you know the outcome…
You are choosing chaos.
If your communication is conflicted, don’t fall into your old patterns. Instead, look toward some new ways of relating to one another.
Any moment can be an opportunity if you see it fresh in a new way.
Here are some questions to ask yourself…
How can you see yourself in a more loving way?
How can you see this person differently?
How can you get to know them in new ways?
Now more than ever, take this moment and open to see something new.
The key to finding peace and love during turbulent times is finding gratitude in the moment, no matter what it looks like, and looking toward possibilities.
They’re always there if you look in that direction.