The Inside Jobs

There was a time, centuries ago and in some parts of the world still today when everyone did nearly everything for themselves. Think of a crofter or subsistence farmer who will grow most of their own food, possibly building their own homes and not purchasing much at all. It's how society used to be but it is obviously very different today. Today we ‘outsource’ to have most of our needs met, we have supermarkets, most of us have central heating rather than a simple fire, we buy clothes rather than make them or mend them, have hairdos and manicures and many, especially celebrities, will even outsource social media postings.

But there are some things that will always remain an inside job.

It’s a common theme in these articles that although we can’t control situations we can always control how we respond to those situations. There may still be some elements of outsourcing – perhaps some therapy or classes for yoga or meditation but in essence, when it comes to happiness and peace they remain firmly inside jobs.

Finding Inner Peace and Happiness

To begin you need to be in touch with your feelings. Work out the things that bring you peace and happiness and do more of these. Things like meditation or mindfulness help lots of people feel calmer and more at peace. Happiness is often felt by doing things you enjoy or spending time with people you care about. No wonder most of us feel more relaxed on holiday because usually, we do things we enjoy whether that is hiking up a mountain or lying by a pool –happiness is an individual thing and often with people we care about.

Another important aspect is to work out what robs you of your happiness and peace and limit those things – whether that’s social media, watching the news or being around negative people.

Your happiness and peace are worth protecting so it’s worth eliminating or at least reducing things that rob you of your peace and happiness.

But of course, there are some situations that we just find ourselves in and we have to live through them, things like financial insecurity, relationships issues, health scares or a thousand other things and of course, they can take a toll on our happiness and peace, until we can learn that happiness and peace are inside jobs. While we can’t say external situations don’t matter we can try and limit the impact they have upon us. Obviously, many situations can be changed and if something is changeable and it's robbing us of our peace and happiness then we should definitely work to change it. But if we can’t then what we can change is the way we respond. fragrance can bring you sunshine and flower petals whether or not the sun decides to shine.

It starts with our thoughts, followed by our words and actions. How we frame a situation, and what we think about what is happening will determine how we feel about it. We can be very negative, we can think that the world is against us or out to get us but the fact is that bad stuff happens – bad stuff even happens to good people. If we can stay positive focus on any good things that will help us maintain our peace.

So, changing our thoughts about the situation can be the first step to regaining peace and happiness.

But our words count too – if we go around telling ourselves and others what a terrible time we are having that seriously isn’t going to help. Having a good cry, and being honest with a friend about how you feel is fine but if we are constantly being negative with what we say it certainly won’t make us feel calm and happy.

Then there are our actions. We will find it very hard to be positive, peaceful and happy if we are stressed out and over-busy. So, we need to build into our lives some regular self-care. We need to have the mindset that this is not an optional extra it is a necessity, and then we need to do it. Make time to be kind to yourself to recharge your batteries and do this regularly.

Shifting our viewpoint from one where it’s sort of up to life or the universe or others to keep us happy and at peace to one where we realise it is all on us can bring about a massive change. Letting go of the anxiety about situations we can’t change is really helpful. It can also be useful to think of the world as a big echo chamber – what we give out will find its way back to us so get into the habit of giving out the right ‘vibes’.

If you are seeking peace and happiness don’t look outside, look inwards. Take care of yourself and practise gratitude and kindness. Focus on positivity and finding your own calm. A life with inner peace and happiness is possible whatever the circumstances.

For more about limiting beliefs and manifesting check out my book Make it Magnificent available from Amazon.