YOU WILL FIND PEACE RIGHT HERE, WITHIN YOU
There will be some days, weeks, or even entire seasons of your life where you long to be at peace, but you know it won’t come easy. You long to be able to just have one of those days where you can escape it all, rest for a while, and just be.
But there’s too much on your plate. There’s too much on your mind. There are too many people asking things of you, drawing everything out of you like water being drained from a lake.
And at the end of the day, you feel like you have nothing left. You feel like you have only enough energy to crawl into bed and scroll through your phone until you fall asleep. And even though the house might be a little quieter, your mind is not. It is filled with chatter about all of the things you need to do tomorrow, next week, next year…
It is in moments like these where pursuing peace can feel far away from you, as if it only exists on the other side of some mountain you haven’t made it over yet. Perhaps it’s a mountain of:
“I’ll be able to relax a little more at the end of this quarter…”
“I’ll be more at peace once I know where this relationship is going…”
“I’ll be able to stop worrying about this once I finally get an answer…”
“I’ll have more time for myself to slow down and ‘just be’ once I know how next week is going to go…”
It is true that you could have more time to pursue peace when you make it to the other side of that mountain. It is possible that there will be more relief and more space to slow down in the season to come. There is nothing wrong with looking forward to this or working toward this as a goal, because it’s true: once things change in your environment or your everyday routine, it can make a difference in the way you see peace in your daily life. But may you always keep this in mind: this is not the only way. Peace does not only exist on the other side of the mountain, but right here in the valley you are walking through today. You will find peace on the other side of the mountain, and you will also find peace, right here, within you.
Peace can still be found in a half-decorated home where your plants have not grown in the way you want them to. Peace can still run like a river right through your same old, tired workspace even if no one else takes the time to acknowledge it. Peace can still be available to you when you can’t get out of bed in the morning or go to sleep at night because of what’s on your mind. Peace will not come easy in these places, but that does not mean it is not there. That does not mean you cannot make the brave choice to enter a state of calmness and rest, right here where you are.
In doing this, you’ll become conscious of this Light-woven reality:
Things may not be
the way I want them to be,
but all by grace,
it will not hinder me from pursuing
endless, boundless peace.
Word of the day: Pursue (v) “(of a person or way) continue or proceed along (a path or route)” (Oxford Languages)
Affirmation: “I am pursuing peace right where I am right now.”
Journal Prompt: What is the most peaceful spot in your home and what is it about the space that feels peaceful? How can you incorporate that feeling of peace in other areas of your home?
More in this week's series called "You Are Free To Exhale", only with a subscription in the Storyteller App.
Sincerely,
Morgan Harper Nichols
@thestorytellerco
@morganharpernichols
