You Can Create World Peace

In alignment with this day of International World Peace, I am considering what each of us can empower ourselves to do, to contribute the development of our peace.  There are many pathways, visions, ideas and indeed actions already in play. To contribute to peace does not require a constant state of peace, although that would be a wonderful ideal, to contribute to peace, is to make mindful effort to grow in peace as much as we can, when we can, and many of us are already doing this, in our own unique ways, throughout most days of our lives.

Anyone who practices peace, anyone who makes the choice to accept and to forgive instead of to fight, anyone who makes a kind or compassionate choice, anyone who actively supports well-being and positive living, anyone who researches on how we can create more positive communities, anyone who chooses to heal their emotional pain and suffering, anyone who is able to love, accept and nurture a child, anyone who supports the sustainability of our planet, the care of our animal, anyone who tolerates and accepts varied beliefs,  anyone who promotes the awareness and integration of positive values, anyone who chooses to listen to their heart, anyone who lives by their own heart-centered truth, anyone who marks this day as the initiation of a commitment to be more peaceful in thought and action, is contributing to peace.

This morning, I was discussing child and adolescent mental health with my colleagues and a theme than arose from this conversation was the need for awareness of how we promote mental health and well-being in our communities. What seems to be needed is to talk about these issues, in homes, schools and places of work and socializing. Mental health affects everyone, and only by talking about it will be cultivate the understanding, that makes it possible to grow into acceptance. It was this awareness issue that reminded me to reflect on where we are with World Peace. I think we have surpassed the awareness stage; we know we need peace and we want more peace at many levels; internally, within our daily lives and on a global political, religious and environmental scale.  What I believe we need now, is a vision of peace. I do not believe we need to strive for one ultimate vision; our differences of viewpoint and opinion are the colours that make our world beautiful. I believe we are at the stage of understanding what growing peace in our lives means; what does it mean to you and me, to our family members, our students and teachers, our colleagues and community leaders, and to those we choose and trust to lead us. We need to really understand the meaning of peace, if we are to take it from an idea or ideal and integrate peace into our daily lives.

What does peace mean to you? I am not going to tell you what your peace means, what I can do, is share with you what peace means to me, and perhaps through this, inspire in you the emergence or connection with your personal truth. When we are each clear about what peace means, we are half way to creating peace in our world.

I discovered peace after many years of working through my own fears and anxiety. I developed the mind management tools to dismantle my fears, choose positive perceptions, practice relaxation techniques, choose healthy distractions away from spiralling descents into a whirlwind of fearsome thoughts, while managing fear and doubt and uncertainty. However,  although empowering, this alone did not bring me peace. I needed to understand how to manage my fear before I had any chance of moving into peace. 
In time, my process lead me into years of learning to truly understand and integrate the art of acceptance; to accept my past and my present, to accept who I was and who I have become, to accept my limitations, to accept things I do not like about myself and my world, to accept feelings and emotions that are uncomfortable, and to accept my perfect ideals and some of my really important dreams may never be, but  that certainly that I will never give up working to live them. As I integrated acceptance, through the way I would think and talk to myself, and the way I reacted to others, I witnessed and emerging  sense of peace. At the same time, thoughts of gratitude and appreciation for what I had arose from within, and with this, I felt deeper sensations of peace. With more time and inner work, I encountered forgiveness, as if a natural progression from acceptance, and in forgiveness, so much could be let go, making space within me for more peace. Then, as if a natural flow, I found myself meandering into moments of compassion, because with growing understanding, acceptance and forgiveness, gratitude and appreciation of myself and others in my world, I began to not just know, at an intellectual level, but to feel, that we are all so alike; we are connected, we influence each other every moment of our lives. To choose compassion connects you and me at the heart, and from the heart, no longer analysing or thinking, just being present in love, it seems to me to be a natural occurrence that the arising thoughts and actions we make are positive, and that my presence with myself is more at peace. My work is to make time to connect with my heart and make this a lifetime practice, because in this, I find my peace, often inspired by natural beauty and random acts of kindness that I witness in my world. I know that we have the power to create peace in our world; we are the peace. 

What does peace mean to you?
What is your vision of peace?
How can you grow more peace in your world
 
With peace,
Antonia

If you are interested in working with me to develop your fear management techniques and grow through the process of learning to live from the heart, please feel free to get in touch. You are welcome to request a no obligation 30-minute complimentary discovery session, to experience how working together can benefit you. Contact me at: antonia@antoniabehan.com  
​Thank you