Often I hear a common goal among clients that they are seeking joy and peace. When we are missing something or needing more of something in our life, we may search and seek for it outside of ourselves. In circumstances, jobs, and people. Often people believe if they have the dream job, the perfect lover , or perhaps better circumstances, then they will have joy and peace.
Did you know that you can have joy and peace before you accomplish your goals, improve your circumstances, or meet the right person? Whether it’s simply how we are taught, or habits we have adopted, we can get our leverage backwards. When you can focus on joy and peace now, you create a better atmosphere and vibration to attract and receive more to be joyful and peaceful about. And the wonderful thing is, you can obtain joy and peace regardless of your current situations.
How much you practice feeling good, being grateful, or thinking positively may determine how and where you can focus more. If you practice seeing the good in most situations, I would bet you understand and have noticed the power in your leverage. You can have a negative situation or an unexpected/unpleasant event happen and still manage to find something positive and good within it. That perspective helps you be at peace even when some unpleasant things happen.
If you are a bit new or unpracticed at seeing the good in situations, you can practice your focus in ways that benefit you better until you are more seasoned. When you are focused too long on a worry or problem, you give more leverage to the issues you want to see change. There are many ways to change the momentum, and what works for you may be different than what works for another.
One simple starter is a break. Especially if you have been very consumed in thought by a worry or problem. Meditation is a good tool to help you clear some thoughts and step away from that energy. You could take a walk, watch a funny movie, or perhaps do an activity that enables your mind to get lost in what you are doing. Activities that can break the focus and momentum of stress and worry can give you great leverage towards change: change in your brain, change in your perception, and change in your energy. Once you take a step back from the momentum of the stressor, you can allow more joy and peace into yourself.
Once you can allow more joy and peace in yourself, you have greater power and leverage over the unpleasant situations. You allow more space to receive more clarity in the situation. The shift in energy could spark an idea that you’ve been waiting on, or perhaps even lead you to stumble across a solution.
I use to have a client with a very high-stress job who was responsible for making decisions that would heavily Impact many people in his community. Often in his position, he was presented with problems to solve with delicate and ethical considerations. I always noticed he was diligent about taking care of his well-being and approaching life positively. Those actions in themselves can take one very far, but with his high demanding job, he often utilized many tools in his belt. We often swapped ideas and learned much from each other. Once he shared a trick I had never heard of. He called it “art staring.” He would stare at piece of art for hours at a time. To me this is just another form of mediation, but it really worked for him. Not only could he use his time as a break from the stressful problems, but as he was able to enjoy a beautiful piece of art. He also allowed time and space for his brain to offer more clarity, solutions, and peace.
From this space of peace, he could return to the job, stresses, and demands with more leverage to solve and tackle the problems. I remember a few times this same client would relax during his massage so deeply he would receive answers he was looking for. They came to him by relaxing and letting go of the focus on the problems.
The idea is to remind you that you can seek joy and peace in your life now, today! You not only give yourself more leverage, but you don’t have to solve the problem to experience the peace. The focus of joy and peace are what you can do now within. And that energy will connect you to the clarity.