To be at peace is to increase your effectiveness as a person. It helps you to be in touch with your inner self, to be without inner turmoil, that many of us are constantly tied up in.

The first thing to do is to relinquish control. Control is purely illusory. It does not exist. You have no control over others, you have no control over the future, nor the past. You cannot change what has not happened, and you cannot change what already has. Control is a source of pain. It is abused by the strong, and longed for by the “weak”, but it does not exist. It creates tension, it brings about the seeking of that which does not exist, and often with it pain. Control is not real, and must be let go.

Focus on the good. It is all around, but it is rarely seen. We live in a world in which the media is very present, constantly. Music, television, books, graphic art- all are forms of media. Often, negative things are portrayed in the media. It is easy to become wrapped up in all the bad that happens. Turn away from this daily, and notice the flowers, the sunshine, the good in others, cherish the way a shirt feels against the skin, cherish a compliment from a stranger (and return it), feel how real it is to pet an animal, see the interconnectivity that is all around us, and love it. Recoginizing beauty is to invalidate the “bad”, to not give it thought or attention, and in doing so makes the negative go away.

Love thyself. Every one of us is unique and perfect in all of our imperfections. All of us are weak, we all feel pain, we all feel hate, we all feel love, we all have our own difficulties, we are all different, we all dont fit in, and we all fit in perfectly. Loving ones’ self is paramount to being an effective human being.

Live in the now. We do not have tomorrow, and we have already had the past. It is time to move on, and it is not yet time to live in a reality that does not exist yet. Each day could be your very cliche last day. If you are aware of your surroundings in the now, you can do more to affect them.

Realize that each of us can make a big difference every single day. Even if it’s only to one person, you never know where that one effect may end up. You may change the entire world with one good deed.

Love you all!