The path to inner peace
Robert Sawyer reminds, “Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.”
What Sawyer is saying reminds me of one writer who said, “You have to choose your battles in life. Not all battles are worth our concern and our attention.”
There are many “lemons” (battles or problems) that we will meet along the path of life. Sometimes we make lemonade out of it – that is we have to find a solution on how to deal with it. Other times, when we are not comfortable with the situations we are in, we choose to ignore it because not all problems are worth reacting to. If we insist on reacting to it, it will only ruin our day.
Like one time, I was in Singapore, some years back visiting my son, there was a woman who cut the line when we were in a queue in a grocery store. Instead of reacting, I just told myself that this woman must have an emergency thing to do, hence, she acted in that manner.
In the same vein, Rania Naim of “Thought Catalog website” shares this profound and inspiring thought: "I’m slowly learning that the energy it takes to react to every bad thing that happens to you drains you and stops you from seeing the other good things in life. I’m slowly learning that I’m not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and I won’t be able to get everyone to treat me the way I want to be treated, and that’s okay. I’m slowly learning that trying so hard to “win” anyone is just a waste of time and energy, and it fills you with nothing but emptiness.
"I’m slowly learning that not reacting doesn’t mean I’m okay with things, it just means I’m choosing to rise above it. I’m choosing to be the bigger person. I’m choosing my peace of mind because that’s what I truly need. I don’t need more drama. I don’t need people making me feel like I’m not good enough. I don’t need fights and arguments, and fake connections. I’m slowly learning that sometimes not saying anything at all, says everything.
"I’m slowly learning that reacting to things that upset you gives someone else power over your emotions. You can’t control what others do, but you can control how you respond, how you handle it, how you perceive it and how much of it you want to take personally. I’m slowly learning that most of the time, these situations say nothing about you, and a lot about the other person. I’m slowly learning that maybe all these disappointments are just there to teach us how to love ourselves because that will be the armor and the shield we need against the people who try to bring us down. They will save us when people try to shake our confidence or when they try to make us feel like we’re worthless.
"I’m slowly learning that even if I react, it won’t change anything, it won’t make people suddenly love and respect me, it won’t magically change their minds. Sometimes it’s better to just let things be, let people go, don’t fight for closure, don’t ask for explanations, don’t chase answers and don’t expect people to understand where you’re coming from. I’m slowly learning that life is better lived when you don’t center on what’s happening around you, and center on what’s happening inside of you instead. Work on yourself and your inner peace and you’ll come to realize that not reacting to every little things that bothers you is the first ingredient to living a happy and healthy life.”
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