PERSONAL NOTE
This month will be kind of low-key for me, just have some home improvement projects being done. You know many times people talk about gratitude which can be about many things. I personally am very grateful for 3 p.m. to arrive each weekday. I live in a normally quiet neighborhood; however, the silence has been broken by a construction project within 15 feet of my home (a 6 story apartment building). Yes, 6 stories....yikes! So, I am very grateful when the construction workers stop at 3 and go home for the day. You see gratitude can be about anything.
With the current world situation, I felt it was important to have peace as my topic this month. So let's jump right in.
ARTICLE
Peace—It Starts with You by Jan Cerasaro
I think we can probably all agree that this world of ours needs peace and lots of it and we need it sooner than later. Having peace in the world can seem like such a monumental task but when you chunk it down it is possible. Because it seems like such an impossibility there have even been jokes written about it. I’m not saying it will be easy, but it is possible.
There are so many ways to define peace several of which are: a state of tranquility or quiet; freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts; harmony in personal relations; freedom from civil disturbance.
When we think about peace, it must start with each individual person on the planet, not some group, region, or governmental body because every group and government is just made up of individual people.
So, peace really must start with you. It was estimated in November of 2021 that there were 7.9 billion people on our planet. Since peace starts with the individual if there were 7.9 billion people at peace would there be any fighting? Once a person is at peace within themself then they can work to have their family be at peace, then their community, then government, and then the world; that’s how it would happen. Before you start to say “Will yes but” hear me out. Even if the only thing that happened was that you discovered how to live in peace with yourself, wouldn’t that be worth the effort? I want to see many more people become peaceful, but you personally learning how to be at peace is a great place to start. So how can you accomplish peace in your own life?
One way to develop personal peace is to think for yourself and not get sucked in by the agitators on social media or television. Many of these people don’t know what they are talking about, like to get people riled up, or are just concerned with their ratings. None of these things will help you feel at ease. With increasing chaos, violence, and hostility in the world creating your own peace is more important than ever.
Physical activity is another great way to shake off some of the external chaos so you can center yourself, calm your breathing, and your thoughts.
So, going back to the definitions above, what does bring you harmony and gives you a feeling of tranquility? Do you have some soothing music to play, perhaps just taking a few minutes to silence your mind and still your thoughts? The only person you have complete control over is yourself, so you are completely responsible for choosing to be at peace or choosing chaos.
It can be easy to want to blame others and point a finger at someone acting in a way that we do not agree with but when you point that finger did you ever notice that there are 3 fingers on your hand pointing back at you?
So, my friend, you are the only person that creates your own personal state of peace. Over the balance of the month, I will write more about your personal peace, then move on to developing peace in your family, then your community, and then on to a larger scale. However, it is a waste of energy if you try to calm the world when you haven’t learned how to calm yourself.
Let’s take this journey together so that as many of you as possible can be in a better place at the beginning of April than you are today.
COOL RESOURCE
The link below is a meditation for peace around the world. The entire recording was almost 2 hours as there were 5-minute meditations done in the languages shown below. Even though you may not understand the language the energy is still present and as Marie mentioned in the introduction it is a collective meditation for peace. Listen to part or all as you desire.
More than 20 International Transformational leaders guide us in Ukrainian and Russian. There will also be meditations in Dutch, French, English, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, Tibetan, Portuguese, Croatian, Slovak, Serbian, Polish, German, Gurmukhi, Italian and Sanskrit.
Click here to watch and listen https://youtu.be/Bz5gMPhuvYk
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Please let me know if there are particular items you would like me to cover in upcoming newsletters. Just email me at jancerasaro@yccbe.com
Stay safe, healthy and happy!
Coach Jan
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