I had a conversation with a lady the other day, who is a couple of decades older than me, who asked me the question, what is your peace? I am the type of person who loves to talk to people whether they are older or younger. I love getting advice and learning about other perspectives on life. I don’t think I answered her question because I wasn’t truly sure what my peace was, or what I wanted it to be. It was a question no one has asked me before, but it was a question that stuck with me.
You have probably heard the saying, “you can’t put a price on peace.” This statement holds so much truth, and I am learning that if something is costing you your peace, then it’s too expensive. The thing about peace is that peace may look different for everyone. There is no one thing that makes peace itself. For example, you may need peace from your kids and hiring a sitter may solve that, or you may want to slowly get out of financial debt and seeking a financial counselor may help with that.
Peace may also look like treating yourself to something like the nail shop, spa, the gym, or simply a gift to yourself. Whatever your peace is, find it, and make it happen. It was Eleanor Roosevelt who said, “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. One must work at it.” Sometimes peace may find you, but anything worth having requires action. We can talk about something all day, but if we don’t make the moves to make it come to life, then what’s the point of the talk?
One important thing the lady made clear is that we need to view peace as a goal and make it realistic. It’s important to focus on what you can realistically do to make your peace happen. If you say I want to be debt free in the next month, well depending on how much debt you have, that may not be realistic. But you can take a small step to reach that peace by jotting down a financial plan to achieve that.
Merriam defines peace as “the state of tranquility or quiet.” I am trying to figure out what my state of tranquility is for me now. What is yours?
