Peace Starts With The Mirror

If you pay attention to the media, it seems like the world is evolving into a violent and psychopathic place. I think deep down the majority of people around the world desire peace. Jawaharlal Nehru once said “Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of the mind . . . Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.”
To be a person of peace and to pursue a life of non-violence a person must first look to themselves. A person must be at peace with themselves before they can be at peace with others and their environment. There are many factors that are involved in establishing peace with yourself. They require some personal effort and responsibility but they pay great dividends.
The person who pursues peace can live without fear; for who can question peace? Who can question non-violence? Only those cowards who live in fear resulting in violence and aggression will be offended by the peaceful person. What a person most derides may be their greatest fear.
Some of the factors involved in establishing peace with yourself are:
1. Engaging in forgiveness of yourself and others.
2. Accepting ultimate responsibility for you actions and circumstances.
3. Pursuing the discovery of your personal purpose in life.
4. Establishing a system of faith.
5. Letting go of things like revenge and personal offense.
6. Letting go of tradition if it is unproductive.
7. Renewing your mind, body, and spirit on a daily basis.
8. Developing humility.
9. Developing a perspective of the world around you that is not

based in stereotypes.
10. A study of, and incorporation of positive virtues
11. Pursuing a full life no matter your current circumstances.
Once you begin developing peace within yourself, that peace will spread outward to the world around you. First, your friends, and family, then your community, then your enemies, and outward to the world. This is the true path of global peace; one person at a time finding peace within themselves.
It is my belief that those who are most violent possess the greatest capacity for peace and non-violence. It all starts by accepting the challenge of examining yourself everyday and choosing peace over violence.
I encourage you to look in the mirror of your life and begin to put aside violence. Develop a new perspective towards friends, family, enemies, challengers, and the world at large.