35 Ways to Find Inner Peace, Starting Today

It’s hard to find inner peace in our fast-paced world. Here are some suggestions for finding and holding onto your inner peace.

by David Stone

Assorted Ideas, Large & Small

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1) Understand that peace, real peace, cannot be threatened by any outside force. If you have been losing sleep over the threats of terrorists or other international disasters, this should be good news. Why? Because anything that can threaten inner peace, real peace, is temporary. Therefore, if you are living in fear of the threats of some outside force it only means you haven’t achieved true inner peace.

2) Understand that your mind is always generating thoughts about something whether or not you’re consciously thinking. If the nature of this generation of thoughts is permeated with fear, worry, or anxiety there’s not much chance to find inner peace. However, if you can catch yourself in the act of thinking fearful thoughts and deliberately choose thinking more peaceful thoughts you have a shot at gaining an inner peace mindset.

3) Understand that your mind tends to follow your dominant moods. If your mood is not peaceful you will probably think of things that make your mood more distressed. If you can change the dominant mood, maybe by taking a walk outside or listening to cheerful music, there are better chances of finding peace through thinking peaceful thoughts.

4) Understand that peace is something only the eternal spirit/soul can “have”, not something you can “get”. The eternal spirit/soul is always at peace, which means that if you think like the eternal spirit/soul (belief in, love, practice gratitude for) you will be living in harmony with inner peace.

…it’s normal to be disappointed…

5) Understand that there are no guarantees of what life throws at us, and we often can’t change what happens to us, but we always have a choice in the interpretation of events and even the response. So don’t view it as your fault if some bad thing happened to you. Instead, understand that it’s good for you to decide whether or not to be disturbed by it.

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6) Understand that “negative” emotions, such as anger and sadness, are not bad. They’re just part of reality and the human experience. So let yourself feel them when you need to, then move on by thinking peaceful thoughts that come from knowing that nothing outside you can ever harm you for any reason.

7) Understand that it’s normal to be disappointed with life some of the time. Just recognize that you will probably think some unpeaceful thoughts, then consciously choose to think peaceful thoughts instead. It’s just part of practicing any new skill, like learning to ride a bike or drive a car.

8) Understand that thinking about inner peace is not necessarily the same as having it. Yet this kind of thinking is a catalyst for gaining it (like taking medicine to make yourself feel better). So sometimes, when you least expect it, you’ll find that your thoughts have taken on a peaceful shift. You might not even notice it at first because the shift feels so natural and normal.

9) Understand that it’s possible to live in peace with what you can’t change, and for the rest, you can choose to let go and trust that there’s a good reason it happened or is happening. It might even be something that will benefit you down the road.

10) Understand that life is full of ups and downs, with some periods better than others. But they all make up your journey through life, so try to enjoy every moment of it. This has the effect of making your life better overall, which helps you eventually become able to be at peace with whatever happens in life.

…we can’t stop our minds…

11) Understand that there are many kinds of inner peace beyond just being calm and at ease. So you can’t say someone else doesn’t have inner peace if they’re not calm and serene all the time. However, if their inner peace is permeated with other qualities like love and kindness, then you know it’s real inner peace even though it might look different from what you think of as normal.

12) Understand that we can’t stop our minds from generating thoughts because we need to think, but we can discover how to regulate what kind of thoughts we think. Then, if you notice a negative thought trying to take over your mind, choose to concentrate on the opposite type of peaceful thought instead.

13) Understand that sometimes a mood may overtake us and be so distracting it becomes impossible for us to think clearly about inner peace. If so, just wait and give it time. The more you practice thinking peaceful thoughts when the mood is not overpowering, the easier it becomes to do again in a similar situation in the future.

14) Understand that inner peace can feel wonderful sometimes but also missing from our lives most of the time because we don’t know how to generate it ourselves. But by practicing some of the suggestions above, you’ll discover for yourself how to stay connected with inner peace most of the time.

…it’s possible to generate inner peace…

15) Understand that true inner peace is not something that happened or can happen to you, like winning a lottery or getting married. It’s an ongoing process of choosing peaceful thinking whenever our minds generate unpeaceful thoughts. In this way, it’s much like the process of helping a plant grow in our garden or tending to a small child—it requires ongoing care and diligence.

16) Understand that every day people wake up thinking they will have inner peace, but it doesn’t happen because they didn’t actively make time for it in their busy lives. In the same way, they usually forget to water their plants or play with their children, but not because they don’t want to. But if they made time every day for inner peace in some form—even a few minutes of it—they’d notice a shift in how peaceful life feels.

17) Understand that no matter what is going on in your mind or around you, it’s possible to generate inner peace because the process of thinking is something you control. The positive effect this has on your life can be amazing, letting you experience more happiness and joy about what you have instead of worrying about what you don’t have.

18) Understand that if you’re having a hard time making yourself do any of the above steps, you’re not alone because most people have trouble with this. The good news is that once you find a way to make it work for you, life becomes much better for both your inner peace and outer life as well.

19) Understand that there are many ways to generate inner peace so everyone can do it just the way they want to. In this way, you can feel free to be yourself and do it your own unique way until inner peace becomes a natural part of your life.

…if something is missing from your life…

20) Understand that if you’re still having trouble generating even a little bit of inner peace in some form, you can practice doing it with a friend or someone else to show you how it’s done. Once you discover the difference in yourself from being connected with inner peace versus not being connected with it, you can learn even more about what helps and what doesn’t.

21) Understand that if something is missing from your life besides peace of mind, the solution might be as close to hand as a simple search on the internet. In this way, you can find an article like this one that will help you discover a form of inner peace best suited for your individual needs and desires.

22) Understand that no matter what’s going on in your life or how big the problems seem to be, inner peace is there for every person to discover in their own way. The only thing that stands in the way of it is your thinking which can be changed by your attitude toward what’s going on at any given moment.

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23) Understand that you have both the opportunity and ability to change how peaceful you are, one thought at a time, starting today if you want to. Once you start finding your inner peace by looking for it, you’ll discover how wonderful it feels to be at peace no matter what’s going on around you.

24) Understand that once you find inner peace whenever you want, life becomes much more worth living because of the serenity it brings each day. From this point forward, you can decide what you want and where you want to go, and then take the time to stop and notice if you’re getting what you’d hoped for. If not, inner peace will help you find a better way until your dreams come true.

…if you’re out of sync…

25) Understand that when we’re peaceful inside ourselves, we don’t need anything or anyone else to make us happy. We don’t worry about what others are doing because we know it’s not up to them or us either way, so there’s no sense in worrying over it.

26) Understand that the most important thing you can do for yourself is generating some form of inner peace daily if possible—because it benefits you more than anyone else—so you can be comfortable with who and where you are right now, which is the only place and time we ever have.

27) Understand that if you’re out of sync or not feeling peaceful enough to enjoy life fully, it might be because of too many negative thoughts running through your head all at once. If this is the case, try separating them and looking at each negative thought separately until you can see it more clearly.

28) Understand that inner peace is nothing more than a state of mind which makes all things possible if you want them badly enough. Once your mind is firmly established in finding inner peace no matter what happens, not even the worst news will disturb it as much as before.

…we can either be happy or unhappy…

29) Understand that inner peace is a state of mind where we can either be happy or unhappy about something or someone no matter what their location, abilities or behavior might be. The choice to feel happy about any single thing in your life lies with you alone—and it starts with finding a form of inner peace by thinking about it.

30) Understand that if you’re still having trouble generating even a little bit of inner peace in some form, it’s because you don’t feel worthy enough to have what everyone else does, so you hold back so nothing bad happens or has the chance to come your way. Once you realize how much inner peace can do for you, your thinking will change and so will your whole life because of it.

31) Understand that inner peace is a state of mind where we can either be happy or unhappy about something or someone no matter what their location, abilities or behavior might be. The choice to feel happy lies within each person’s own heart—and it starts with finding a form of inner peace by thinking about it.

32) Understand that our way of thinking creates the world we live in as surely as the sun shines every day, so anytime you think something bad about yourself or anything else, your thoughts are building a negative world for you to live within until you change them again.

33) Understand that you can either take control of your life or let someone else take control of it for you, but the choice is up to you alone. If you’re not feeling peaceful about something yet, it’s because you’re letting another person—or even yourself—control how you feel inside, which disturbs any inner peace that might be there.

34) Understand that you’re the only one who can generate an inner sense of peace for yourself because it doesn’t come from anywhere else except within your own heart. Once you find this form of inner peace no matter what happens, the world around you will be much easier to live in so long as you hold onto it.

35) Understand that once you find a form of inner peace about anything or on any subject, there’s no need to look at it again because you’ve already gotten the answer you were looking for. When this happens, it means that an inner sense of peace is telling you not to worry over it any longer because everything is going to be okay.

Conclusion

Inner peace is an elusive quality much sought but not often found. The tips in this article have hopefully helped you understand how to find inner peace for yourself and stay connected with it, so you can be comfortable with who and where you are right now, which is the only place and time we ever have.