Inner Peace

Yesterday I was peaceful and happy - inside. The outside was rushing around, cutting the lawn, climbing under the car to tighten the fan belt, working through 5 loads of washing before sitting down with a good book in the sun. And in doing those things I was completely and utterly happy.

And then I arrived at work this morning. Suddenly inner peace was hard to find. Nothing's gone wrong, but there seems to be a strange vibe here, like dis-ease, worry, tension, bad news - that kind of vibe. Even though no-one's acting out of the ordinary and nothing dramatic has gone wrong or changed.

Seems as if inner peace is actually more a mind perception than a mixture of external circumstances. What you perceive as negative will drain the peace right out of you. What you perceive as positive will top it up again.

It's a pretty illusive thing to find. Perhaps it just takes a lot of practice in not letting externals, perceptions, and moods influence that calm reflective pool you keep deep in your heart. The one you gaze in when things get too much, the one fed by snippets and whisperings of joy (and the occasional bar of dark chocolate). The pool surrounded by everything you love best, where you can dip your soul's toes when you've walked a bit too far.

Somehow I need to recapture that inner peace today, to fill a pond that seems to have dried up within the space of an hour. To radiate calm and joy and contentment from the inside out, no matter what.