I Had To Overcome Numerous Storms To Find Calm

I had to overcome numerous storms to find the calm I enjoy now. Sometimes it is not enough to turn the page or change the book, authentic wisdom consists in knowing how to reinterpret what is already written and also understanding that when there is calm within us, adversity is only part of the landscape.

We have all lived through chaotic moments, complicated days and even really difficult existential phases. Although the mind requires calm and stillness from us, our brains are immersed in another type of speech. The neurochemical activation favored by stress and anxiety takes us away from the balance we need. We are unable to find the harmony with which to situate ourselves above the surrounding pressures.  

There is one aspect that needs to be clearly understood. When we talk about calm, we don’t talk about surrender. The person who adopts a calm and peaceful attitude towards the difficulties of life does not “get carried away”. Conversely, it is a question of finding that internal harmony in which thoughts, desires and abilities manage to act with congruence and wisdom.

Finding our inner calm is an art that we invite you to discover with us.

Achieving calm in a world of incessant noise

In a world of incessant noise, it is not possible to achieve calm overnight,  especially if we do not allow ourselves to be permeable. We live in a chaotic world in which all the different environments we find ourselves in expect something from us. Being model citizens, productive workers, good children, excellent fathers and exceptional friends.

With the “must be” imposed by society, the “who am I” vanishes. Jules Evans, director of the Center for the History of Emotions at the University of London, through his essays on anxiety and depression, explains that in this accelerated world in many cases we just improvise, while our emotions lose control. . We lose our inner balance and move away from the roots that nourish our being.

Calm and inner balance are a very valuable asset. Let’s not talk about spirituality, let’s talk first of all about health and well-being, because those who are not calm live on an island of incessant noise in which they will be unable to make correct decisions. Similarly, a restless mind becomes our worst enemy, leading us towards the paths of vulnerability, lack of control and, possibly, drifting into depression.

We need to take control.

The philosophy of the samurai to find calm

There is a curious and interesting book entitled Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido Sourcebook  (“Training the Samurai Mind”) by historian Thomas Cleary. It brings us closer in a very illustrative way to the techniques that each warrior used to relax the mind and get to know his opponents better.

It is clear that we do not face physical battles, we have no enemies to kill, but antagonists to face, control and even defeat. We speak without doubt about fear, stress, worries and also, why not say it, the presence or attitude of certain people in front of whom we are permeable.

Below we propose some strategies extracted from the aforementioned text that can help us find inner calm.

How to find calm in an accelerated world

We must understand that our best ally to find inner peace and balance is the mind. Sometimes our thoughts make us cross unsuitable thresholds to the point of neutralizing us. We must be able to place ourselves above worries, never below them, otherwise we would be prisoners of them.

For this reason, the following aspects must be kept in mind:

• Be loyal to yourself

  . We have a number of values ​​that give us an identity: defend them.

• Emotions don’t have to weaken

  on the contrary they must be a daily weapon with which to find breath, with which to wrap our essence, our virtues, our resilient soul forged during previous battles.

• Accept adversity

  . Just as the samurai accept that sooner or later they will have to give their lives, just as Bushido dictates, we must be able to accept the existence of adversity. It is not a question of “obsessing over fatalities”, but of accepting them without fear in order to also see all the beautiful things that life offers us when we least expect it.

• Train to calm

  . Inner peace is refined every day and for this purpose there is nothing better than carving out an hour or two a day to be in silence and in balance with ourselves. Meditate if you wish, take walks if you find it more pleasant, in any case give yourself some time just for yourself and you will gain health.

• Work on your own feeling of control every day

  . You need to be able to focus on what you control: you must and can make your own decisions, you must and can set limits and, first of all, you must act assertively about what you want and what you don’t want.

All these ideas will provide us with very suitable psychological strategies to advance more courageously in our daily battlefields. Calm is not found, it is conquered!