Hey everybody! Welcome back to Freedompoint, I have some thoughts today about what it means to be peaceful, and how to become peaceful. It seems to be one of the most talked about things in my world, but how does it happen.
I was reading something the other day that really spoke to me. I guess you could say that it really brought some focus to the idea of peace and being peaceful. It went something like this...
"Peace comes from realizing that you are capable of great violence, and choosing against it"
It went on to say more about if you are not capable of such things then you are not peaceful but you are harmless. I do think there is a difference. So in the video I do talk a bit about the idea of whether I am a front lines sort of fighter, or someone that will respond when it is needed.... I am definitely someone that will respond when needed.
I never go looking for trouble, and I am certainly not one to just be on the front lines...but I am someone that would do whatever I had to to protect my family. When I think about the quote above, I naturally start thinking about fighting, but that isn't the extent of what violence is.
I once knew a family that seemed pretty well rounded. We went to church with them, and one was even a principal at the local school. The wife had a way to deal with her frustration. She let out her "violence" on coffee mugs and the garage floor.
In this case, she wasn't outwardly violent to people, but those poor mugs thought differently. So I think that the umbrella of things that could happen under the label of violent is pretty big. The trick to being peaceful would have to be the balance, and choosing against it.
I was raised in a family by parents that taught be to be a yeller and a breaker. All of my childhood I did exactly that. I took my frustration out on stuff, and I was very loud about it. As an adult I realize that those feelings may be inside me, but I actively choose against them.
I believe that being peaceful is about balance. I think about the old saying "it is better to be a warrior in the middle of the garden, than a gardener in the middle of a war".
When it comes to peace and being peaceful, I think that the way to become peaceful is to first acknowledge what is inside you, and then actively choose. What if it all starts with one thought, or one urge. So we don't even have to focus on the details of the act, but focus on the impulse and the drive. Maybe one day that morphs into something beautiful and we no longer have to strive toward peace, and we just find that we are peaceful.
Thank you for joining me for these couple of thoughts about being peaceful. Sometimes I think it is great to just talk out challenging thoughts with you all!
Be well
~The Yeti
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