The Importance of Prioritising Your Peace

peace

I think many of us would agree the world is a “full on” place. From the moment we open our eyes it can feel like there’s an incessant magnetic pull to be out there. Doing. Helping. Controlling. Trying. Striving.  Prioritising my peace? OK, I think I’ve got a slot on Wednesday…

 

Jeez, for so long I had the experience of waking up and already feeling like I was behind. Bonkers.

 

For a while I signed up for the Game of Life called,

 

“if you work hard enough, have your to do list as your consistent Compass and make sure everyone else’s needs are met, then you can sit down, close your eyes and plug into your inner peace. (Ideally clean your kitchen floor too just before you do, so the thought that it needs doing won’t pop up in your meditation).”

 

I tried it many times. Each time I’d end up exhausted, grumpy and even a little resentful. I would wonder others couldn’t see the effort I was putting in for them when I felt I was doing so much.

 

I got up even earlier thinking that if I extended my days or pushed back my nights there would be more chance of space. To breathe. To Be. To prioritise me.

 

All that happened is that more seemed to “arrive”.

 

A bit like trying to hold back the sea. I’d metaphorically spend hours combing the beach to get it all clean, smooth and perfect. Just as I collapsed in my deck chair to admire the view, the waves would come and spoil it all again.

 

Surely there had to be more to life. Or even less. Something different.

 

It was relentless, incessant, draining. I was not only exhausted with the effort, I was empty. I had nothing left to give. I was done. There were times it felt like I couldn’t even access peace it was so far away. Like an old friend that I’d known once and neglected. I knew it was there. Somewhere.

 

In one of those darker moments I had an aha moment. What if I had this back to front?

 

What if rather than prioritising “them”, out there, all those moving parts, doing their crazy dance to get my attention, I started with Me?

 

What if rather than someone else saying notice me, I noticed ME first instead.

 

In fact, what if the ONLY way I could really notice anything was to first notice ME?

 

Me.

 

Me.

 

Me.

 

Me?

 

Yes me.

 

Not the “selfish” mini Me. An ego.

The real Me.

 

The Me that I know I can access when I close my eyes, get still and watch.

The Me that emerges when my ego gets out of the way. Instead of the one who holds the bundle of stories, beliefs, preferences, who likes to be right and in charge.

 

That Me. That Space.

 

In those moments, the world fades away and instead there’s a simple calm, a knowing, a truth that’s so clear, so tangible, so REAL that it takes all of my attention. It’s magnetic. A force within itself. A powerful reminder of a bigger Game. One that’s way beyond the small me with a small life.

 

Instead this experience invites me, entices me to Play. To start with noticing and within that, see what’s really unfolding.

 

From that space, there’s a sweet clarity. A sense of what truly needs my attention and what’s just a distraction.

 

It opens up infinite possibilities and gently guides me to see, with discernment where my wisest steps might be.

 

It speaks to me through whispers and I am able to hear it.

 

It’s a remarkable thing. Even in the noisiest of places – busy airports and train stations – the whisper cuts through.

 

It’s exciting. It’s daring. It’s ALIVE.

 

When I first learned to meditate, I heard that for many their highest desire was “peace”.

 

There was something about that word that felt passive, even dull to me. Peace. What happens there? My mind said ‘Nothing’. Because it’s peaceful right?

 

Oh how wrong I was.

 

When I access peace, when I make peace a priority, it’s the most plugged in experience I know.

 

I get to see where I’m compromising, where I’m saying yes when every cell of my body is screaming no. I see where I’m smiling and trying to be nice, to fit in, to be validated. And instead slow down to see that all of that “noise” is coming from one single belief that there’s something wrong.

 

Like an outdated radio channel offering instructions, that noise tempts me to show up with behaviours and actions which I know don’t serve me. When I prioritise a different “radio” channel, I can easily drop that story by choosing one of of my meditation techniques. I prioritise a deeper truth, a peace, a knowing, that it simply isn’t real.

 

From that space a clearer, bolder, Me emerges.

 

One who speaks her truth.

One who knows who she is.

One who knows who she is not.

 

Can you imagine a World where those dances and mini games fell away? Where no one pretended or even saw a reason to? Where we made it easy and chose Me, our inner Peace first? Where we slowed down, in service of MORE? A World where we could choose to see each moment with fresh eyes and innocence.

 

We could notice the triggers, see the space and chose to RESPOND instead. Gone would be the days of needless and endless reacting, the busy being busy, the hustle.

 

We’d drop the old bags of stories, the mental clutter, drown out the inner chorus of critics, judges and commentators.

 

What we’d create is FREEDOM to discover who we truly are.

 

Every single time we prioritise  peace, the inner GPS system gets updated. We get reminded, rebooted. We plug into an endless supply of rocket fuel. The Engines are ready for the REAL journey.

 

We notice the moment to moment exquisite invitations to play. To live. To BE. TO GO ALL IN.

 

The choice to prioritise peace isn’t selfish. It’s a declaration to yourself. To those around you. To the world.

 

It says;

No numbing out here.

No missing a single second.

No pretending, no drifting, no following.

 

It’s not a light switch. You don’t get to choose once and relax, passively letting life take you.

 

It’s a commitment. Again and again and again. A chance to CHOOSE.

 

It’s a vote for;

I’M HERE.

Taking your space.

For claiming it.

For owning that you’re here to make a difference.

To play your part.

To play a bigger Game.

To renew that vote, that choice, sometimes a zillion times a day.

 

It’s a whisper and sometimes a wild bold passionate shout out that says;

 

“Count me IN”.

 

That’s what we do, that’s who we ARE when we prioritise Peace.

 

CREATE your remarkable life.

 

Nic, otherwise known as Mahita Ishaya

 

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