How to find inner peace and happiness within yourself

First off finding inner peace isn’t always the way we think. Sometimes we have it all backwards. With so much noise out there, really… I mean really how are we to find inner peace and happiness without slipping into all kinds of…god why did I do that’s?

I get it. That’s why I want to invite you to consider a couple of things that has made a difference for me lately.

But first, let’s talk about what inner peace is and what it isn’t.? This is important because anything less than an out of this world inner peace that makes you relatively bullet proof emotionally is not gonna do.

I want you to have untouchable Godzilla zen. Everything else is just not gonna fly. Think it’s impossible? Think again.

What is inner peace you might ask?

It’s self acceptance on a core level. Self acceptance that gets you to be clear about who you are, what you’re made of, and how nothing on the exterior is all that significant about who you are with one small exception… your results.

What do I mean by that? Well… if you are anything like me, I have spent most of my adult life looking the part… or at least trying to. I want to be a princess. Not the tom-boy scrapper that my upbringing made me. I want to love and have connection, but so much of who I am can stand in the way of all that.

It isn’t until I have the gnarles (new word I just made up) to set all that aside and to be ok, with who I am and who I am not. Once I’m not focused on tap dancing my way into people’s heart so that I can feel value, I can start living an authentic life living from a place that makes me irresistible to be around. My truth is that people decipher authenticity pretty easily and when I’m that, well then I will be surrounded with love an support. Those that are interested in my pretentious ways will simply not stick around, which is ok with me, when I’m ok with myself.

Inner peace and God.

Although I didn’t set out to write a post on inner peace and God, I will say this. When you get how absolutely loved you are by our creator, it does a lot of the work for you. It is a door opener to understanding that you are loved from a place of intricate value and the mosaic of your self perceived brokeness transforms into an intricate mural of beauty and uniqueness. But

’cause I promise not to simply run down the bunny trail of spirituality, let me keep this post brass tax… with an emphasis on the “how” even when you don’t feel the overwhelming sense of cosmic love. Besides, it took a lot of self acceptance for me to imagine that anyone else could find me…ehem remotely lovable.

Finding Happiness – The Journey Starts with Permission

Give yourself permission to dream and stop feeling bad about it.? Let me tell you a story that reflects access to inner peace.

So I recently asked my husband, Paul, what was the most impactful conversation he has had (with me) that really made a profound difference in his life.? Here I was waiting for him to tell me some fancy answer that would make ME feel like a million bucks (because for a moment there I made it about me) and he said, ?You know you, may not know it but it was actually something you said in passing that has really made a difference.? ?Now, I?m slightly bummed that it wasn?t a highly emotional, tear-jerker answer, the kind of answer I was looking for anyway.? So I straightened myself up, and ask him ?Oh yeah?? What was it?? ?He began to remind me of a past scenario. He was sitting on the living room sofa in front of the big screen tv, and I had kind of wondered off to do something else for a moment… He continued saying, ?Remember when we were watching the CrossFit Games and I said, I want to be in the CrossFit games?and you said, ?I?ve been waiting for you to say that.? Do you remember that conversation?” I answered, “Yeah.” ?He said, “Well… that made the most profound difference in my life.?

Fast-forward, almost a year later, my husband ranks in the 75th percentile worldwide in his age group for the CrossFit Open.? That?s pretty damn good for someone who has never done it before!? So when we looked at what happened, it had nothing to do with me.? When I said what I said, it was because we watched the same CrossFit Games on Netflix over and over again that I felt like he wanted to be one of them.? But what happened to him after hearing those words was that he finally felt free enough himself to give himself permission to dream and fantasize about becoming a CrossFit athlete without feeling about it.

See, most of us reject an idea or fantasy before we actually get a chance to really think about it. ? What I?m saying is, most of us have this fear of failure if we try to go for something ?that is ?beyond our reach.? ?If left unchecked, fear of failure will leave people unwilling to go beyond their comfort zones or achieve greatness they will never ever know.

Sad, I know.

The good news is it does not have to be.? What most people are unaware of that failure is necessary for success.? It’s totally the opposite side of the coin.? You know, there can’t be a “left” without a “right” or “up” without a “down.” ?I can go on and on.? You get the idea.? You’ve heard all these rags to riches stories, like Milton Hershey (chocolate anyone?), who failed a few times before becoming successful.? Or how about the Wright brothers who were the first to invent airplanes that actually worked and that became successful?? Do you know how many times they crashed before they became successful?? Every “failure” led to a solution to a problem.? When you are able to use failure as a stepping stone, anything is possible.? That will be another topic.
Right now what I’m clear on is that before you can fail, you have to have an idea that can actually fail.? Do you see how silly it is to think that you’re going to fail and feel all bad about yourself when nothing has happened yet?? It’s crazy!? You have to create it in your head first before you can test it out.? Who cares what other people think about your idea.? So what if they think your idea is stupid?? It’s really none of your business what they think of it.? Your responsibility is to have your idea come to fruition.? It is all possible.

First, you have to create it in your head before it can become a reality…you know, dream about it.
My husband trains to failure six days a week with the help of his coaches.? I say he trains to failure because the look on his face every time he comes home is the look of pain and confusion sprinkled with hint regret and a dash of misery. ? I think it’s crazy but he does not care what I or other thinks about his insane training.? How do I know that?? Simple.? That saying “if you can’t beat them, join them” seems to be his theme.? He has inspired others to do his “athlete’s training.” ?He even inspired me to go once and I quickly realized I am not an athlete of his caliber.? That was his dream and not mine and I’m totally ok with that.

One of the greatest speeches ever made was titled “I have a dream…” by Martin Luther King and that dream altered the world forever.? Maybe your dream is the next best thing. We won’t know until it’s here.
>So what are you waiting for?? Dream on!