Navigating the Chaos: Where can I find Peace in a Turbulent World? Discover Your Sanctuary
Hello Humans!👋
In today’s world, peace seems like a utopian distant dream. We feel steered away from serenity. The current situation of mental health worldwide is concerning. After the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has been in constant degradation in almost every dimension of human experience from the economic to the cultural to the spiritual level. The global response to this pandemic has strained international relations, with issues related to vaccine distribution, economic recovery, and public health measures. It’s no wonder that mental health issues have skyrocketed in this period.
As an avid reader of worldwide news with a deep interest in geopolitics and international relations, I have observed that consistently exposing myself to negative news on websites or social media has had a detrimental impact on my overall energy. This endless stream of worldwide bad news has left me feeling mentally drained.
It is plain to see that the world is currently facing a multitude of ongoing conflicts, wars, tensions, and causing immense suffering and displacement. Everyone has found themselves bombarded by terrible news either on TV, YouTube or social media. The ongoing war and humanitarian crisis between Russia and Ukraine has been raging since February 2022; Afghanistan being in a state of turmoil since the withdrawal of US troops in 2021; The Sahel region of Africa being plagued by violent extremism, the unstable confrontation over Taiwan, The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region; Syria, Yemen … to cite a few. But the epitome of unhuman conflicts I have ever witnessed is the recent war in Gaza. We have observed and lived the most brutal ethnic cleansing, leading to the uncovering of the myth of western humanity.
Aside from armed conflicts, inflation was and still is a serious matter that enraged citizens all over the globe. The surge of prices made us constantly anxious about our daily life and the future of our kids and loved ones.
Are they trying to control us through intentional rise of global fear? How can we, as individuals, protect ourselves from being manipulated by fear? Who is responsible for the constant instability of the world? Is there a hidden hand behind the conflicts, wars, and tensions that plague our world? Eventually, the answers to these questions are not in the locus of our control. However, they have raised a deeper query in my mind: In this chaotic world, where would I feel at peace?
As cliché as it may sound, and from my current personal experience, I found peace within my Mind. Yes. To lean inwardly has strengthened pillars of my mental stability. The only place where you can be shielded from external issues and physical draining events is within you, Your Temple. As quoted by Publilius Syrus:
Would you have a great empire? Rule over yourself!
Let me put it in other words. I came to believe that our FOMO leads us to check news every now and then to get updates about recent changes in the world. A nurturing of the wrong corrupted things. We hardly resist this urge of uncontrolled curiosity. As a response to this, we undoubtedly affect, willingly, our mental and emotional energies. This distress stems not from the external events themselves, but from our perception and interpretation of them. Luckily, we hold the power to reshape our perceptions and alleviate our anguish at any moment.
To restore and improve our mental sanity, we are supposed to adopt different behaviors towards the content we consume. I personally started to go through this set of decisions, that I would love to share with you, based on stoic philosophy and my personal meditations. Here is my guide to cultivating peace in a chaotic world. I hope it will create a sense of hope and positivity to you:
- First of all, cultivate Acceptance. Drawing from the Stoic philosophy, consider adopting an attitude of acceptance toward things beyond your control of the world in its current state. The stoics call it “the art of acquiescence”, and believe in focusing on what they could control, accepting the rest with equanimity. This perspective can help in navigating the uncertain events of the world without being overwhelmed. However, don’t confuse acceptance with passivity. You can accept the world in its current state while working on making yourself, your family, your entourage better.
- We should be picky and mindful of our news consumption habits. They are but external noise that blurs our stillness. Remember: Stillness and clarity allow us to better navigate the challenges of the world.
- The past was not good, the status quo is not worse, the future is not promised. They just are.
- When the outward seems chaotic, turn inward to strive to become a better person. You can create a more peaceful and harmonious world around you when you are inwardly sane.
- Most of the time, we cannot change the events that have occurred or are currently occurring, we can only change our opinions about them.
- If you are blessed with a family, a loving partner and few authentic friends, that is your holy grail. It’s essential to maintain strong relationships with like-minded people around you.
- Find yourself a physical activity in which you release the remaining inner stress. Later on, it will provide you with relaxation and self-reflection.
- Nurturing our minds the wrong things will reprogram our neurons to fire and wire feelings of despair, helplessness and anger. Filter what you consume and keep a focused eye on what matters to you.
Your world is a reflection of your own mind. Nurture your mind, take care of your thoughts and scrape off the bad ones, and see as your world around you transforms into something even more beautiful.
Conclusion
Our role here, in this life, is to get better at navigating mental and physical obstacles. Embracing serenity in an unsettling world is not easy, but it is possible. To mention it again, remember that the key to finding peace lies within your own mind. By concentrating our energy on our thoughts and actions, we can find a sense of peace, acknowledging that external events are often beyond our influence.
I will conclude this short article with a wise quote from Ali Ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him):
ميدانكم نفوسكم، فإن انتصرتم عليها كنتم على غيرها أقدر، وإن خُذلتم فيها كنتم على غيرها أعجز، فجرِّبوا معها الكفاح أولًا.!
Your battlefield is your soul. If you conquer it, you will be able to conquer anything else. If you are defeated by it, you will be defeated by everything else. So, first struggle with it.
I hope these insights are helpful.
Kia Ora!
