One of those weeks...

Well, this has been one of those weeks that demands that I walk my talk. My oldest child, my daughter who is now a young woman, went away to school for the first time. My husband unexpectedly lost his job. Both of these situations evoked (and still do) an entire set of intense emotional responses. I won’t get into the emotional details as you can imagine what they might be.

When life gets challenging and difficult, I rely on my heart. The internal force that reassures me that everything will work out and even better than before. Life is never void of challenges, we have to learn to rise above adversity so that it impacts us in a less negative and self-destructive manner. This is what allows peace to come into play.

There was a time when I had hoped that positive thinking and developing more constructive habits would eliminate adversity. Needless to say, hard times still present themselves.

Over time, I discovered a process to rise above life’s challenges and experience peace regardless of what is happening around me...

• I acknowledge my feelings and fears; I flat-out accept them instead of resisting or judging them.

• I let the feelings and fears pass on through my mind (and body, that sickly stomach or heaviness in the chest feeling—you know what I mean).

• I become aware and experience them, and let them fade into the distance.

• I avoid entertaining their self-destructive properties; I don’t allow myself to be misled into any destructive beliefs that my feelings and fears create.

After the feelings and fears pass, I feel grace—a beautiful and peaceful feeling that pleasantly overcomes my entire body and mind.

I applied all of these processes in full force this week. In addition, gratitude and love kept me going in the preferred direction and induced a more peaceful state. Trusting my heart, knowing that I am prepared and allowing myself to see solutions instead of barriers let peace come into play.

If you are experiencing some challenges this week, give the above process a try and allow yourself to rise above adversity and experience peace instead.