Inner peace and balance are of great importance in everyones life. They are highly valued by most people, though really few possess them. Yet, everyone can develop them, some more some less.

What do inner peace and inner balance mean? They mean the presence of self control and discipline and the ability not to let outside events influence our emotions, actions and reactions. Their presence mean the possession of common sense and good judgment, and of not letting the outside world shake our inner world.

How many times have you been overwhelmed by emotions, lost your temper and got angry or impatient? How many times have regretted about your reactions or attitude?

Do you shout at your children, spouse, co-workers or employees? Do you get angry with them? Are you happy with this situation? Do you let your work, the weather, other people behavior and attitude, the movies or the newspapers influence the way you feel and think. Do outside events distract your mind and make you think about them, instead of what you choose to think about? This is loss of inner balance and lack of inner peace.

Lack of inner balance causes fluctuations of the emotions, lack of decisiveness and wasting time on unnecessary thoughts, emotions and actions. So what is the remedy?

The moments immediately after awakening are important, and influence the mood of the day. These moments have to be used correctly.

After waking up in the morning, instead of thinking about the difficulties or tasks that are awaiting you, smile and tell yourself what a wonderful day your are going to have. Think about the pleasant things you are going to do or experience, not the about the difficulties. Repeat to yourself several times that today you are going to maintain inner balance, common sense and peace of mind.

From the moment you get up until you go to sleep at night try to maintain some detachment. This does not mean being indifferent or uncaring. It means not reacting immediately to situations, words, emotions or thoughts. It might not be so easy, but if you persevere you will win. Take a few deep breaths or count to 10 before acting. This will to some extent calm you down.

If someone tells you something that you do not like hearing, instead of getting insulted or retorting in anger, hold and delay your reaction. I do not mean fret and boil inside and show nothing outside. This is not healthy. I mean look at the incident in a broader perspective. Is what the other person saying really important? Why do his words mean so much to you? Maybe he is right, and it would be wise to heed his words and opinion, instead of reacting in anger?

Always remember that if you descend into a valley, but keep walking forward, you will arrive to a point where you will start climbing up. No matter what happens, remember that there is always a way out. After every fall there is rising up again. This knowledge will help you restore your inner peace and balance, when you encounter difficulties and obstacles.

Inner peace and balance are states of mind. Developing inner strength and the ability to make the mind quiet, through concentration exercises, meditation, detachment, visualization or affirmations, will take you a long way toward attaining and maintaining inner balance and peace.

Copyright Remez Sasson