Quietude

I am constantly reminding myself to chill out: when I am driving to and from work, when I am at work, or when I am in a situation where my expectations are not even close to matching up to reality.

 

Add to the equation a traumatic event such as the recent bombing at the Boston Marathon and the resulting increased security and it's no wonder that you, me and others are on edge.  Stressed out.  And the toll that stress takes on our physical health and mental well being is daunting.

 

I don't think I am alone in feeling this way.  No wonder people are finding it difficult to get along.  The work-hard-get-ahead lifestyle eventually catches up with you whether you admit it or not.  If you don't feel well, you're not going to act well.

 

So I'm thinking that we all can take it down a couple of notches and play better together.  One way that I try to play better with others is to remind myself to lower my voice.  If I can keep my voice in a monotone volume when talking to others then that does a lot to calm me.  I have a tendency to get excited when I am talking and then have a bad habit of raising my voice.  I'm getting better at achieving this but it's still something I need to constantly work on.

 

 

 

It's all about inner peace; a state of mentally and physically being in a calm place.  Peace of mind is generally associated with bliss and contentment.

 
Looking within myself to quiet my conflicts and trying always to smooth the rough edges is one way for me to try and get to a place of inner peace.  If I don't try to find and practice inner peace, then I can't very well go out in the world and deal with others in a civilized manner.  It really starts within me.

The words to John Lennon's infamous song, Imagine, come to mind:

 

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

 

From big worries in your life to small inner butterflies, together let's look within ourselves and give inner peace a chance.

 

Lennon and McCartney



Paul McCartney (left) & John Lennon (right)

Ouch!  It's Monday morning and you had a great weekend, a busy weekend full of fun, and now, all of a sudden, you're back at work.

Work?  How did that happen?  Don't worry.  You're not alone.  Michele Woodward knows how you feel and she's here to give you a jump start and get you going again.

A work colleague told me about Michele and I went and checked out her website (http://www.lifeframeworks.com/) and the blog she writes for Psychology Today called Getting Unstuck.  Her straightforward writing style style and her down-to-earth message about abandoning the idea of perfection is timely and refreshing.  Not that I am seeking perfection, but there is this idea out there in the American psyche that we can do it all and have it all when in reality we can't.  Something in our lives always has to be compromised in order to do something else.  It's just a fact.

There's no theory here.  Michele know this because she's a divorced Mom.   She's a real person, facing real challenges, like a real adult with responsibilities.

The following link will take you to a column of hers about John Lennon and Paul McCartney that jumped out for me right away and I hope you like it too:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/getting-unstuck/201105/the-college-lennon-mccartney