If I was still in my hazy, crazy highly stressful career as a recruiter/account manager/”swift hat changer” in the IT world, I’d probably not be able to digest the title of this blog, “Peace in Times of Stress”. I wouldn’t have the time or the patience for its proper contemplation.  I’m asking you to take a moment and give yourself the time to ponder about peace in these times of stress.  How do you experience peace? Do you even know what it feels like? I’m serious here; there have been times that I did not have a clue that I was even stressed out, much less what “stress” meant to me. How does stress manifest for you? Do you feel like you’re going full throttle with no “extra” give on anything?  Do you even have time to stop and ponder what is going on in the world around you (with your family, your friends, your community, your society?).
 Grab a cup of Java or tea and let’s explore this, shall we?
 First, let me say that I hesitate to bring up the “S” word (spirit) or the “G” word (God) because I don’t want to turn anyone off. Those words are loaded for many people and so let me say when I do use these words, I invite you to keep an open mind and understand that I am completely okay with whatever direction you come from. For me, when I use either “spirit” or “God” I am referring to that un-nameable tether that ties us all together. Call it energy, call it magnificent love, call it what you will. To me it is the invisible glue that I can feel helping me to remember that we are not alone.
 Let’s talk about the other “S” word, stress.  Just go ahead and dump all the labels you can think of on me such as “Type A”, “ADD”, “Aries”, “Impulsive” and you’ll probably be very close to understanding how I experience stress. It’s all or nothing. And usually if you compared me to a car, it’s as if I’ve got the throttle full on and my gears are all shrieking wildly.  Obviously, a car, or a human (or me!) is not able to continue this level of existence for very long without something giving up (Adios bub, I’m outta here, check ya later!). This shows up in the absolute non-existence of patience for a leaf falling in my path much less another human being (especially if they are anything but barely breathing!).  I will also lay awake at night tossing and turning with very little rest happening which in turns just adds juice to the cycle of having nothing left to give, etc.  Day of the living dead comes somewhat close to describing me at these times.

Peace, to me, means the absence of stress.  It means the ability to “Let Go and well, “Let God” which means to agree that perhaps I am not in control of E V E R Y T H I N G.  It means trusting that if we do our part, whatever that is, and trust God, or the cycle of events, or nature; however you want to look at it, that all will be well.  I know this is not an easy concept to consider much less actualize in your life, but consider about this:  If it’s so hard for us to learn how to let go of what causes us stress and instead turn our intentions towards being peaceful, then how in the blue blazes do we expect people to choose a peaceful way when interacting with others much less countries to give it a go with other countries?
 Let it begin with me. Let it begin with you.
 I can’t tell you how many times I have walked into the bathroom at work and said the Serenity Prayer (God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference) over and over and over in the bathroom stall (silently of course!).  It always worked to calm me down from whatever hell-bent fight I believed I had to fight!  Truth be known, the only person we can each change, is ourselves, period. End of story. Next?

So what are the thoughts, actions, things, people, which bring you peace?  I read somewhere that J. Paul Getty used to crawl around his desk on his knees to physiologically change the way he was thinking.  It takes what it takes, if that works for you–and you can do it privately–why not try it! 
 What if everyone reading this blog decided to be conscious about where their stress levels are and went about exploring ways to help themselves to feel peaceful?  I wonder if it would be like that idea that if we all decided to not buy gasoline for our cars and bikes one day together at the same time, then BIG Oil companies would go kaput?!  Maybe we could start and experiment and see what happens.  Supposedly there are regularly 50-85 people accessing this blog everyday.  If each of us decided to “act as if” we were choosing to be peaceful over being stressed, could we see the affects in the world around us? I mean, they say that we are all connected to the point that a butterfly’s wing flapping on one side of the world could cause a tsunami on the other side.
 Don’t get me started.
  Choose to go for a walk, call a trusted friend, listen to good music, take a nap, read an inspirational book, and take a Yoga class. Choose peace.