Someone has emailed me the following question:
“I understand it is important to own your mind, but what if you live next door to really noisy people who drive you crazy and make you lose you sleep? I cannot help thinking that the people who write these books have big detached houses so they already have a peaceful environment at least.”

It is not always possible to be in control of your environment, and therefore it is not always possible to live in a peaceful environment, but you can teach yourself to ignore noise and distractions. This is possible, and I know this from personal experience. On the plus side, when you learn to meditate or calm down your mind in an environment that is not quiet, and ignore the noise and distractions, you actually develop your inner strength in the process, and gain more inner power, will power self discipline and a sense of satisfaction.

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Pupil: Can an average person, like me, who is constantly harassed by all kinds of problems and worries, attain peace of mind?

Teacher: Of course! Peace of mind is not the privilege of special people. On the contrary, any person who is earnest about attaining inner peace, and is willing to devote the necessary time and energy, can learn to reduce the restlessness of his mind and attain at least some measure of inner peace. Every earnest step taken in this direction, even the smallest one, will take you closer to inner peace.

Everyone desires freedom from worries, unpleasant thoughts, anxiety and the hustle and bustle of daily life, but too often, the solutions are sought through various externals activities that might bring some temporary peace. Few know that true peace of mind comes from within, and is not dependent on outer conditions and situations.

Excerpt from Peace of Mind in Daily Life

You cannot always change your environment and the events of your life, but you can learn to change your attitude toward them. A change of attitude changes the way they affect you. It is always advisable to learn, and to practise changing the attitude to a more positive one, and also learn to calm down the mind, but this needs to be done on a regular basis, and not only at the time when there are worries and problems. One needs to train himself, so he stays positive and calm in difficult times.

Suppose somebody who doesn’t know to swim falls into the water, and needs immediate help. You cannot start teaching him how to swim, but if he learned to swim before this event, there would have been no problem. It is the same with being free from anxiety and worry. When in the midst of a difficult time you can use some first aid to keep your head above the water, but to remain peaceful and calm, unaffected by problems and worries, you should have trained before that.

Here are a few simple suggestions:

- Engage in something interesting.

- When worried, try to be busy.

- Never lose hope.

- Analyze your worries: will they help you or waste your time and energy? Do you want them? What are they? They are just thoughts. If you keep thinking them they will grow and get stronger. Do you want that? No matter how difficult it might be, try to focus on solutions, not on problems.

- Visualize yourself free from the problem causing the worry, for example, visualize having a job or money at the bank.

Worry is a state of mind. So is happiness and peace, what do you choose?

Here are a few articles that might help:

www.successconsciousness.com/overcoming_anxiety.htm
www.successconsciousness.com/stress_management_tips
www.successconsciousness.com/peace_mind.htm
www.successconsciousness.com/blog/concentration-mind-power/how-to-overcome-disturbing-and-distracting-thoughts/

- Are you aware of the thoughts that pass through your mind?

- Do you remember what you thought a few minutes ago?

- Do you know how many thoughts pass through your mind in 24 hours?

- Do all your thoughts originate in your mind? Are they your own thoughts or other people’s thoughts that you think are your own thoughts?

Thinking is very useful in every area of life, but people go too far with it. It has turned into some sort of slavery. Instead of thinking on what you want, when you want, you think all the time, every hour of the day. Every word you hear, everything you see brings thoughts to your mind. The mind is always busy, most of the time thinking meaningless thoughts as a reaction to external stimulus.

People have lost the ability to stop thinking when they don’t need to. Thoughts come and go whenever they want, distracting the attention, spoiling concentration, and keeping the mind in a state of endless mental activity. It is like a machine that is never switched off.

Many of these thoughts are negative, causing anxiety and worries, wasting one’s time and energy.

Instead of using thoughts to help in your affairs, you are being used by thoughts. They take your time and they take your energy, without giving you anything in return. They constantly produce noise in your mind, preventing you from experiencing real inner peace.

Are you able to stop thinking negative thoughts? Are you able to stop all those thoughts that keep moving your attention from one thing to another? Do you keep worrying, and do you expect the worst? Does your mind keep busy with what someone said about you, and do you keep thinking how life is bad for you, because someone at work got promoted, and you were not?

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When do you wake up in the morning?
Do you wake up early or late?

If you usually wake up late, try waking up and getting up early in the morning for several days. Not just wake up, but get out of your bed and wash your face.

You will discover that the early morning hours are so peaceful, beautiful and relaxing. It is so peaceful outside and inside the house.

There is such a pleasant quietude. No kids yelling, no cars and trucks, no loud noises and no errands to run. You have time completely for yourself, which you can use to meditate, think, read, write, walk or do anything you like, with no one to disturb or distract you.

It is a time to enjoy the peace before starting your day.

It is a time you can enjoy peace and some free time for yourself, doing what you love doing.

You will find the morning peace so pleasant and relaxing, but it will also supply you with energy for the day ahead.

You can also arrange your time so that you can eat breakfast and drink a cup of coffee, quietly, and with no rush.

Soaking yourself with the peace and quietude of the morning will affect your entire day, making you more focused, alive, happy, kind and peaceful. 

When you get up early you enjoy the morning peace and have some free time for yourself! 

Want to enjoy more peace in your life? Read Peace of Mind in Daily Life.