Embraced by Peace

It is one thing to embrace Peace.
Will you allow it to embrace you?

Will you allow it's silence?
Will you walk with it all day,
gracefully arm in arm,
let it breathe for you, feel for you,
talk for you, and think for you?

Will you dance to the tune it whistles
and laugh at it's jokes?
Will you have a conversation with it about the future
and all of the loving possibilities it sees for you and humankind?

When will you?

Love,

Darlene

Being Fearless for Peace

Montaigne said, "There are so many terrible things in my life, but most of them never happened."; meaning we spend much of our life imagining things to be afraid of! I used to think this was useful, that if I was scared enough I would be sure to avoid those pitfalls. I just had to be constantly vigilant. Fear is exhausting!

Peace happens when individuals (and nations) focus on loving possibilities. Like Gandhi who lovingly and playfully invited the British to leave India, we too can invite the monsters in our imagined lives to leave. We can acknowledge our fear and practice being fearless. We can stop burdening ourselves with fear and find that Peace is light and effortless. Power that had been sucked away by fear is replaced by energy giving love and gratitude!

So, acknowledge and step through (not in!) some fear this Peace Tuesday. Power on dude!

Love,

Darlene

Peace Requires Risk

What risk might you take for Peace today? History is full of examples of people who took personal risks for social Peace; Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa. They are also examples of amazing personal equanimity and grace. When I take personal risks, risk being bold, risk a deeper connection with others, risk seeming foolish, when I stop protecting myself in service of a greater possibility, Peace appears. And I believe it is the Peace of discovering that my fears are illusions!

Would you burst some illusions today to create Peace? I call them "fear bubbles". I believe I hear them popping! Pop, pop, pop, Peace!

My Peace Vision

May I share my Peace Vision with you? My vision is that Peace happens when human beings know, each moment, that they are enough and have enough, REGARDLESS OF THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES! That "regardless" part is key, because most humans think that when they do more they will have more and THEN experience Peace and satisfaction. Hence, the relentless drive to do in order to have, which I fondly refer to as "do do"! When I know I am enough I can choose lovingly and powerfully from a Peaceful place what I will do.

May you know that you are enough and have enough today! Peace!

Love,

Darlene

Peace Dance!

A woman dances
and the music loves her.
Knowing, she bends, whirls, turns and leaps
loving the music
as it catches her
and sets her lightly, softly, gently down
to kneel, grateful for the dance.

If you knew that you were loved today, beyond all reason, and that love would catch you when you leaped, could you be Peace? Give it a whirl!

Love,

Darlene

"No self, no problem!"

This quote from Jack Kornfield is a surefire prescription for Peace. He's pointing to that self we think we are: You know, THAT SELF; the one that has to be in control, that has to know how it's going to turn out, that has to be perfect, that judges you and everyone else even when you're asleep, that exhausting, indefatigable source of incessant head clatter? THAT SELF!

The question is, "How do I get THAT SELF out of the way"? The "how" is hidden in Jack's quote. What if you didn't believe, just for today on Peace Tuesday, that THAT SELF was real? What if you pretended that your disempowering thoughts, your judgments and assessments were not the you that matters, not the real you?

Imagine the space that would be left if you emptied out all of the NOT SELF/THAT SELF and simply rested. So Space Cadet, as a practice today, notice your disempowering thoughts and don't believe them! Do this and I promise you Peace.

Love,

Darlene

Peace and reconciliation

Who might you reconcile with this week? We invite Peace into our lives when we are willing to let go of differences or disagreements, when we realize that the cost of holding on to grudges is the loss of tranquility and joy; ours AND theirs. We create Peace for ourselves by giving up our need to be right about being wronged. And we create Peace for those we blame by doing the same thing! And that's a "twofer"! Yowza!

Who will you reconcile with this week?

Love,

Darlene