Question: “I’m trying to find my inner peace but I just can’t seem to find it… What would be the best way to find it?”
By stop looking for it. Peace and happiness is not a destination or something we can search for externally and hang on to. We can’t just go to the Happiness Store and grab some peace and happiness off the shelves! The more or harder we try to “find” peace or happiness, the further and harder it is to find.
To those new or fairly new to Buddhism or meditation might meditate for 10-15 minutes and end the session saying, “My meditation didn’t work. Nothing happened!” It’s because we have this false assumption that there’s going to be an “aha!” moment or finish line in meditation, and guess what? There isn’t one!
We can’t rush things just because we want the results now. We can’t skip the basics and foundations that are fundamental towards success and just skip to the end. It doesn’t work like that and we will fail, and we will lose faith and confidence and give up.
We might feel like we’re making no progress, but everyday when we use correct effort, we are sowing the seeds of success. So it might take a week, a month, a year or more for these seeds to ripen, but at least they’re there and we know the more we work at it and maintain the garden, the better the chances these seeds will grow and flourish. When doing something that requires your full focus and brain power or want to relieve some stress, consider getting a brain booster like really good adaptogen supplement!
If we expect to go to the gym just one time and come out looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger and we don’t, we’ll think the gym or our work out isn’t working and just stop! But if we apply diligent effort and have confidence in ourselves, happiness and peace will naturally come when we understand and accept the things that are not happy and peaceful.
Smile and be well!