Peace of mind is not something that happens by accident. Consider a garden. Yes, you can have a patch of land where a bunch of things just grow in a chaotic fashion, and it may look beautiful and peaceful. However, consider the kind of garden that is meticulously cared for and nurtured.
The gardener knows what plants go with which, how much sunlight and water they need, when they’ll bloom, and what kind of care they’ll require. They tend the garden, pruning away the dead plants, planting new seeds, and weeding until they have a beautiful garden.
People who prioritize their peace of mind do the same thing by practicing some (or all) of these habits.
1. They keep their lives simple.
It’s difficult to find peace of mind when you’re living in chaos. People who prioritize their peace of mind aim to stay out of chaotic situations. They avoid situations that may inject chaos or unhappiness into their life.
Simplicity is sophistication. As the experts at OptiMind Counselling inform us, life doesn’t need to be big, loud, and chaotic to be wholesome and fulfilling. In fact, it’s better if it’s not, because that kind of constant excitement gets old and boring after a while. After a while, the excitement just doesn’t hit the same because your brain is more tolerant to that stimulation.
They avoid things like overcommitting, oversharing, or overindulging in things that don’t bring peace to their life. Balance is the way to peace and calm.
2. They avoid unnecessary drama.
There are some people who live for drama. They want to immerse themselves in it because they find it amusing or entertaining. Look no further than the popularity of trash, reality television, to see just how many people love drama. They may go so far as to cause it themselves if they are bored enough and want the excitement.
People who want peace don’t concern themselves with gossip, rumor-mongering, or drama. They stay away from people who have a lot of chaos going on in their lives. Some people just insist on drowning in their own chaos, and they will pull down anyone else who may be within arm’s reach.
So, if you want a peaceful mind and life, don’t be within their arm’s reach. Plus, if they’ll gossip with you, they’ll gossip about you, which is just more chaos to deal with.
3. They set healthy boundaries without guilt.
As Stanford University shares, any healthy relationship is going to need boundaries to ensure that everyone stays happy and healthy. People often make the mistake of thinking that boundaries are meant to keep people out. In some ways, that’s true. However, it’s also worth noting that boundaries are what allow you to have close, intimate relationships.
Why? Because boundaries teach other people how you want to be treated. You can’t rely on things like “common sense” because sense is not common. You can gather a dozen people, ask them what “common sense” means, and get a dozen different answers. That’s not particularly helpful for anyone.
Instead, boundaries communicate that, “I welcome you within this space, so long as you follow these rules. Please don’t touch or break anything. If you do, I’ll kick you out.” The people who genuinely care about you will want to make sure you’re safe, happy, and okay.
4. They practice radical acceptance.
Radical acceptance is a method of living life that says to greet and accept responsibility for healing from whatever comes, however it comes, no matter how good or terrible. Instead of focusing on the why of a problem happening or things outside of your control, you focus on solutions and that which is within your control.
In my own personal life, I gravitated toward radical acceptance after a lifetime of living with bipolar disorder. I’ve burnt my life to the ground more times than the average person will change careers, not because I wanted to, but because I was unwell and did things I shouldn’t have. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t control myself in those moments without a diagnosis, medication, or therapy.
I was forced to adopt radical acceptance because the rationalizations just didn’t work. Did I want to destroy my life? Absolutely not. Did I have a choice in the matter? No – and there’s nothing that will change that. By focusing on my responses, which I can control, I’m able to take more control of my life and situation. Bad stuff happens. Sometimes all you can do is decide how to respond to it.
5. They maintain healthy routines.
It’s hard to nurture your peace of mind when your mind and body are in chaos. People who strive for peace often make their health an important goal because nothing screws up your peace more than being sick. There are a lot of preventable diseases if people would just take care of themselves properly, but many don’t.
Eating a healthy diet provides the appropriate nutrition for your body. Food is fuel, which is why your food should be as nutritious as you can manage. You can do quite a lot with a slow cooker if you’re not inclined to cook often or you’re not good at cooking.
A healthy sleep schedule gives your brain an appropriate amount of time to rest and recover for the coming day. We replenish mood-balancing chemicals in the deepest stages of sleep, which is why people are so moody when they don’t sleep.
Exercise matters so much to help maintain your body and mind. We are a sedentary society, and health trends reflect worsening health because of it, unfortunately. Even something as simple as a 15-minute walk every other day can provide health benefits.
6. They practice mindfulness.
There is no other moment in life than right now. Yet, so many people aren’t in the present moment. Instead, they spend their time mourning the things that have passed them by, wish for past situations, hope for the future, or even have anxiety about what may be coming down the road.
Mindfulness is about being in this present moment, right now. A peaceful person can mourn the past and consider the future, but they don’t live there. They don’t spend hours and hours of their time dwelling on these things that are so far outside of their control.
You can’t change the past, and you can never predict the outcome of the future. It’s just not worth wasting time on, when you could instead work on cultivating peace and happiness in your present. Practices like meditation, deep breathing, or even just pausing to appreciate what’s happening around you can help reground you and soothe whatever chaos is in your mind.
7. They practice gratitude.
The brain tends to find what it’s looking for. That is, if you’re a pessimistic person who just knows that the glass is half-empty, then what you’re going to notice most often is the negativity. Negativity does not lead to peace. It leads to unhappiness and a lack of peace with whatever your present circumstances might be, because you’re used to looking for the negative.
Gratitude shifts your perception to one of abundance. It causes you to focus on positive things, which helps train your brain to look for positivity instead of negativity.
Gratitude is such a powerful tool for improving your happiness and peace of mind. It’s not easy, though. If you’ve spent a lot of time in a negative mental space, then your brain has been conditioned to look for that negativity. It will take time to reverse that course.
Final thoughts…
A peaceful life and mind are all about the choices that you make. It’s one of those situations where you tend to get out what you put in, meaning if you immerse yourself in chaos, then you can expect to have a chaotic mind. It’s hard to keep that noise peaceful when you’re constantly in it.
Adopting practices like these and working on your mental health will help quiet things down, allowing you to cultivate the kind of emotional garden that you want. It is a journey, though. Don’t expect it to happen overnight.
Be patient, and keep working on it. You’ll get there.
