Peaceful Unpeacefulness

I now know my life is peaceful and harmonious.*
As I contemplated this affirmation, it didn't feel right to me. My internal dialogue about it was something like, "but it's not always peaceful and harmonious! and how can i know that it is, or even that it isn't? what do any of us really know?"
I was thinking that I'd resonate more with something like, "I now invite peace and harmony into my life."

But during a discussion about something else with a couple of women the other day, I ended up talking myself into agreeing with the original affirmation. I heard myself say something about being at peace with disharmony. And that's when the light bulb went on. I then knew that my life is peaceful and harmonious, as long as I am at peace with experiencing times of unpeacefulness and disharmony. And how to be at peace with no peace? How to feel harmony amidst disharmony? Perhaps it's about acceptance and non-judgment. And looking at the bigger picture. Riding the waves. And trusting in the process.

And that seems to lead right into the next affirmation:
I see the larger patterns within and around me.

And what I shared above was the manifestation of: I open up to new insights.

What were the other affirmations?

I affirm the strength of bamboo.
I am an evolving soul.
I am one with Tao.
I respect myself and the process.
I harmonize with nature and all others in my world.
I accept greater peace in my life now.
And so it is.

Oh, that's funny. Now I see that by focusing in on the first one, I missed how the affirmations that followed would have helped me come to the conclusion that the first one didn't need any editing to begin with! But I'm glad I focused in on it, because, in the end, it did lead me to a deeper understanding.

So now that I'm not going to stick to my original plan of going through this line by line, I want to revisit the idea of being at peace with lack of peace (is unpeacefulness a word? doesn't look or sound right....). What I want to look at here is how this relates to an email I received the other day, in which a friend shared that he was using present moment awareness to "skip drama." Yes! If we're present with what's happening, regardless of what's happening or the emotions they're stirring up, there's less likelihood that it will escalate into something that could be labeled as "drama." Does that make sense? I just lost my flow a little, as my hosts just woke up and came into the room.....Focus....And better wrap this up....

So, I think that's all. Be at peace with lack of peace. In harmony with disharmony. Observe what's going on and what you're feeling when drama threatens to take over. It doesn't need to be dramatic. It doesn't need to be a big deal. It just is what it is. Even if it is unpeaceful/disharmonious/drama. ;)



*Affirmations are at the end of Chapter 1 in The Tao of Inner Peace.