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The Peace Contest

THE STORY:
There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried and submitted their work.
The king looked at all the pictures. There were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake, perfectly mirroring the peaceful, towering mountains all around it. Overhead was blue sky with fluffy, white clouds. It was the favourite of all who saw it. Truly, they thought, it was the perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too, but these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of one mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. A less peaceful picture would be difficult to imagine. But when the king looked closely, he saw beside the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest in perfect peace.

Which picture would you have selected? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all these things and still be calm in your heart. This is the real meaning of peace.”

MY MESSAGE:
One of the most awesome things about being human is that we have the free choice to be at peace, to be calm, even when the world around us is not. This takes great practise and strength to have the power to identify the beauty of peace in chaos and it is so important to exercise this ability everyday, not only for the benefit of ourselves, but those closest to us. Holocaust survivor, author and psychotherapist, Viktor Frankl, reminds us that what happens in the world around us does not have to determine the way we feel about our lives. (If you haven't read his book "Mans search for Meaning" I highly recommend you do). The choice on how you react to life from what it hands you is purely up to you. We are creatures of reaction, we don't control what gets handed to us, only how we deal with it and more importantly how we grow from it.

This idea is great and we can all breath it in like fresh air but when the storm breaks we immediately forget its importance, our brains cloud up with frustration and this email would be a waste of time. I can offer you some simple (simple when in the right frame of mind) pointers for when you feel like you going to 'lose it'... remember these points especially when its needed:

1. Take breaks to reflect. - Whenever possible, take a break to reflect on the moment. Even short breaks can be a helpful reminder of peace in silence and recharge resistance to noise and haste.
2. Practice silent meditation. - The calming effects of silent meditation can carry us through chaos with inner peace that is nearly impossible to disrupt.
3. Look for gems. -  No matter how much chaos surrounds us, we can always find things that make us feel joy and calm. It could be another person’s actions, an item, such as a picture, or an observation. Look actively for these and you will find them.
4. Slow down. - Multi-tasking and running from task to task tend to have an ironically negative effect on productivity and rob us of our ability to truly enjoy life. In order to find the gems mentioned above, it is necessary to slow down.
5. Be independent of the opinions of others. - Concerning ourselves with the opinions of others who may be involved in the noise and haste makes it difficult to avoid getting caught up in it.
6. Be tolerant of the actions of others. -  Avoid the temptation to be pulled into drama and chaos by attempting to judge and project your values onto others. If you choose to judge, you will feel the need to observe actions you find disturbing.
and
7. Avoid comparing yourself to others. - Be your own person and handle things the way you feel is right not how you think others will.

...and with all this in mind may your coming weeks be filled with peace and may you keep living an awesome life of complete serenity!!
Darren Zwiers

THE QUOTE:

"Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.” - Mahatma Gandhi