4 Golden Perspectives That Will Help You Find Inner Peace

Background

The beginning

Last year March, all schools and universities were closed along with the reporting of the 1st local Covid infected person.

At first, we were informed that our university was going to be closed for two weeks and that all the students had to go to their homes immediately.

It was unexpected but as staying at home is my favorite thing, I eagerly came home from Colombo to Kandy.

Those days, I was busy. I was writing two research proposals, attending lectures all seven days of the week, going for sports practices and having a huge amount of notes to study.

I was happy to have two weeks for myself to catch up with my work. So the two weeks were spent working. But I was happy because I was home!

At the end of the two weeks, we were informed that the university was not going to reopen anytime soon and that online lectures were starting. Then is when I thought that it was time for a break.

Relaxing

Our home is situated in a hilly area surrounded by trees and away from urbanization. Everywhere you look is green and blue.

There were times at home that I spent just watching out of the window for hours and hours pondering. I had not realized until then, that I needed a break. Although I was busy I thought that I was in good mental health.

Realizing

I began to realize that I was not comfortable with my thoughts because they always tended to wind around memories of the past, which were mostly unpleasant ones. Even if a sequence of thoughts began with something pleasant, it almost always ended in something unpleasant.

My mind always revolved around mistakes I’ve done, wrong decisions I’ve made and moments that I got embarrassed.

I questioned myself why I was getting always bad memories although they were less in number than the happy ones.

Even if we capture an ugly photo, we quickly delete it. We only keep the beautiful ones with happy moments. So why have I kept the ugly memories in my mind?

I realized that along with my busy schedule, I hadn’t time to think about myself or my mental health. I had busily pushed the unpleasant moments aside without really understanding them, learning from them and erasing the unpleasantness from my mind.

While I was struggling with these uncomfortable thoughts, four perspectives helped me find peace of mind.

The four golden perspectives that will help you find peace

Accept yourself and your mistakes

First, accept your powers and strength so that you can develop them further.

Most importantly accept your weaknesses. If you don’t accept your weakness you will never be able to improve.

Accept your mistakes. It’s ok to make mistakes. No one can be perfect and no one can be always right. Humans do make mistakes and that is perfectly fine. But once you accept them, learn not to repeat them. But you are free to do new ones.

Once you accept yourself for who you are, you will realize that maybe you are not the best. You can be an average person or even a weak person. But that doesn’t mean that you can't be the best! You have the potential. You only need the will to grow.

Once you know where you stand, you’ll see the path to the place you want to be.

Accept the challenges and take the journey. Learn and improve yourself day by day.

Forgive

Once you have accepted yourself, the next one is going to be easy.

Forgive others and yourself too.

Every one of us has taken wrong decisions and done mistakes. Forgive yourself for those. It’s not so bad going wrong! Sometimes we have to go wrong for our minds to open up.

Forgive others. When someone hurts you; it’s not your problem, it’s theirs. Most of the time, people tend to hurt others when they are already damaged from within. So, why holding onto anger? Anger is not a feeling you should hold onto. The more you hold onto it, the more you get hurt.

Let go of the past and the future

No matter how much you think of it, can you change the past? No, it’s already gone. So then why worry about it?

There’s one important thing you should do when letting go of the past; erase the unpleasant memories and cherish only the happy ones. Although forgetting sounds bad, it’s a wonderful human ability. It’s given to you by nature, for your good.

When I said “let go of the future”, I didn’t mean stop planning for the future or stop working for a better future. Planning and working are good for your mental health because it gives you a purpose. A little bit of worrying is healthy.

What’s unhealthy is worrying too much to an extent that prevents you from reaching your goals. Worrying can cause unnecessary fear. When you worry too much it may even affect your day-to-day life and make you depressed.

Things will work out or sometimes they won’t. You will win or sometimes fail. Whatever happens, life will go on; you can try again, you can learn a lot and you’ll find new opportunities. So stop worrying too much.

Suppose you spend your time thinking about the past or worrying about the future; that way, you won’t enjoy the present.

You can’t live in the past or the future and if you don’t live in the present, where shall you live?

Be always grateful for the life you live

There was this quote, which dwelled in my mind ever since I read it somewhere;

“Be happy about your life because someone out there is dreaming of having a life like yours”

I don’t remember where I read it but it’s true for all of us. Think about it…

Finally

Once in a while, you need to stop the chase so that you can catch up with yourself.

Accept yourself, forgive, let go of the past and the future and be grateful for the life you live.

These four perspectives helped me find peacefulness. I hope that they will help you as well!