Give yourself inner peace

When you’re at peace, the rest of what you want in life follows.

Here's a quick and simple thing I’ve started doing that's given me a lot of peace.

Be kind to others.

I’m not talking literally (although please do that too).

I’m talking about being kind to others in your head.

- I’m talking about NOT tearing others down in your head in order to build yourself up.

- I’m talking about NOT passing judgment in your head on strangers.

- I’m talking about NOT talking s*** in your head about the world and people around you.

Literally that.

If you’re anything like me you have a tendency to judge others in your head... harshly.

- That person walking in the middle of the sidewalk holding you up? What a jerk. They must really think the world revolves around them.

- That person taking forever in line at Starbucks. The world is alllll about them. Have they never been to a Starbucks before?!

- That coworker who keeps talking about their weekend. No one cares, Debra. You’re boooring.

- That person at the club dancing like an idiot. You really just want attention don’t you?

We pass judgment on others. Silently. In our heads. A lot.

Left unchecked it turns us more cynical, more closed off and more judgmental. It prevents us from finding our inner peace.

So what I do is do a complete 180.

- That person walking in the middle of the sidewalk holding me up? You must have somewhere important you’re going. I hope you crush it. You go!

- That person taking over in line at Starbucks. First time at Starbucks? That must be cool. I hope it is special for them. I miss having firsts in life.

- That coworker who keeps talking about their weekend. Debra go off queen. I like that you’re so excited about something that sounds boring to me!

- That person at the club dancing like an idiot. Love that my friend. Funky.

I know that sounds incredibly cheesy and obvious but the simplest mindset shifts in life are just that. Simple. Cliche. Obvious. They're the things our parents told us to do. They’re common sense things.

At the top of the obvious list is to be kind to others. In our heads.

Being at peace AND judging others are rather mutually exclusive. You can’t say what an idiot, did you get dressed in the dark, no one cares Debra… and truly be in a calm and compassionate headspace.

You deserve to be at peace. Assume positive intent.

Replace negative judgment with an absurd compliment or an outlandish positive assumption. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Let them have their moment. And just see how it feels....

The more you replace your human inclination to judge with this habit, the more at peace you’ll feel.

Replace your snap negative judgment with wow that’s cool. I wonder what they're doing. They must be having a good day. They must be going somewhere cool.

Why not? It certainly can’t hurt and if it can help you find inner peace, why not try?

If you’re anything like me I think you’ll find yourself just a bit more at ease and at peace.