Ways to find inner peace and serenity
- House of Holistic Wellness
- Jul 15, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 14, 2023
We all want peace and serenity. People with serenity are better equipped to enjoy life. Their small problems remain small and don't become magnified into huge catastrophes. And when real crises arise, they react with steady, clear thinking.
However, serenity isn't achieved without effort. Just as we need proper exercise habits to have healthy bodies, we need good mental habits to have peaceful minds. To that end, here are some daily habits to get you on your own path to serenity.
Give Thanks Continually. When your alarm goes off, before you even get out of bed, close your eyes and think about the ways in which you've been blessed. Consider the most basic gifts that you have: your health, your family, good relationships, your home, your clothing. Then continue to give thanks throughout the day. If someone lets you in their lane when you are driving, give thanks. When your paycheck is deposited into your account, give thanks. When your child comes home from school safely, give thanks. Make a point of acknowledging every good thing that happens to you.
Focus your attention on those things you can control.
Why worry about those things you can not control? It spoils your mood and makes you less capable. Literally ask your self, "Is this something I can control? Will worrying be beneficial in any way?
The Serenity Prayer means letting go of situations beyond your control and taking action toward things within your control. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
The Serenity Prayer is based on four virtues:
Serenity
Acceptance
Courage
Wisdom
Let’s take a closer look at the meaning of these virtues from the Serenity Prayer and how you can apply them to your own life.
The meaning of serenity
Serenity is the first virtue mentioned in the Serenity Prayer and is presented as the primary goal.
Serenity comes from the root, serene, meaning calm, tranquil, peaceful, and clear/unclouded. Serenity is a state of mental calm and clarity, where you feel at peace in the present moment, able to focus on what matters.
Being in a state of serenity is the opposite of a state of anxiety.
Anxiety pulls you out of the present moment, clouding your mind with thoughts of the past, and worries about the future. It is a state of tension and chaos.
Like anxiety, serenity is a perspective through which you view the world. The world does not need to be perfect to have mental clarity. With practice, we can approach uncertain situations through the mental lens of serenity.
The meaning of acceptance
In the Serenity Prayer, acceptance means letting go of things outside of your control.
We spend a lot of our lives worrying about things outside our control. A state of anxiety pulls us into not accepting reality as it is and trying to change it through constant worrying.
The meaning of courage
In the Serenity Prayer, courage means having the strength and determination to do what is within your control.
When faced with an obstacle, we can have one of two reactions. We can claim we are a helpless victim of circumstance, or we can take ownership of the things we do have control over.
Have you ever found yourself complaining about a bad manager? This outwardly directed blame keeps us focused on the things we do not have control over – the manager’s behavior.
Rather than pointing fingers, having the courage to look inward allows you to take responsibility for the things you do have control over. You cannot control the actions of a bad manager, but you can control how you respond. You can also control whether or not you stay in that job.
The courage to take an appropriate action does not mean the absence of fear. It means noticing the fear and carrying it with you as you take action, despite it.
Courage means living on purpose.
Not taking action is its own form of action. By not taking action, you’re allowing your life to be dictated by external forces.
The meaning of Wisdom
In the Serenity Prayer, wisdom means knowing what is within your control and what is not within your control.
Therefore, wisdom allows you to know when to practice acceptance and when to practice courage.
You can ask yourself, “Is this something within my control?” If not, you can then ask yourself, “what is within my control?”
The wisdom to know the difference is often clouded by anxiety when we are immersed within our thoughts. Rather than having the wisdom of clarity, our thoughts might lead us astray.
Our minds often lie to us, leading to what is referred to by psychologists as Cognitive Distortions. One of the most common includes black and white thinking. This means the tendency to overgeneralize, having thoughts consisting of “always” or “never.” For example, “I’m always treated unfairly by my manager.”
The key to wisdom is the ability to look at your thoughts as if you are a third-party observer.
"I often suffer with anxiety and what helps me to come back to a peaceful state is meditating on God's blessings. We have to remember someone else out there may have it way worst than we do. When I'm feeling overwhelmed, making a cup of Chamomile tea always calms my nerves right away. Here are some other herbs and supplements that may help you from stressing out and help you to calm down. Try our Daily Calm from WTHN that manages daily stress and can balance your moods. Our Micro Balance Health Products-Adrenal Boost that supports stress management and adrenal support. Asystem- Complete Calm De-Stress Gummies Sicilian Lemon + Ginger are one of our best sellers." ~Tracy
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