Self Improvement

"Peace does not control our will, it is our will that controls peace."

That was the thought I had. The inkling that led to others about acquisition of peace. Thoughts of stoicism. A revelation that while meditation and introspection are powerful forces, they are nothing if not used in seeking the right paths.

The aim of meditation is typically to bring peace to the self. Peace is, however, not gained through external forces. One can meditate hours per day but be no happier or peaceful due to it. Meditation can be a very powerful conduit for peace, but only once we are ready for it and have opened ourselves up. We must desire the peace we seek very consciously, and in all situations weigh our thoughts and actions against our precept of peace.

We must understand peace as a product of our own mental processing, that is caused by our own decisions and strengthened by meditation. When a possibly upsetting circumstance arises, we must realize it is how we deal with it that is to blame for our unrest, not the situation itself. If someone should offend us it would be easy to blame their offense for upsetting us. We must realize that the choice of action and feeling are ours.

Stoic: of or pertaining to the school of philosophy founded by Zeno,who taught that people should be free from passion,unmoved by joy or grief, and submit without complaint to unavoidable necessity.

Stoical: impassive; characterized by a calm, austere fortitude befitting the Stoics: a stoical sufferer. When I think of a person acting stoic, or stoical, I think of impassion. One does not have to be a complete follower of Zeno, or his Stoic school of thought to understand and apply the principles contained within them. It makes perfect sense that we are best equipped to deal with life if we are emotionally balanced. To the negative extent our anger can cause much damage in our decision-making.

Irrational choices can be too quickly made. The same holds true to the positive extent. When overly joyous we make impulsive decisions that seem great at the time, but could later lead us into suffering. To be stoic, and maintain peace and composure, you must learn to deal with situations having those ideals in your mind. I have previously talked about methods to train your mind, but let me elaborate regarding thought patterns here: Always try to make logical sense of your situation, and suppress your initial emotional response. In a layman sense, use your brain, and not your heart. Society is very emotional, and because of that you might think of this as unfeeling.

The idea is not to squash all emotion, but to maintain composure and reason out your situation and react accordingly. Stoicism is an outlook on life. It is not altruistic, nor does it make one selfish. It is about solid logical reasoning when decisions need to be made, but emotional response can still be felt after-the-fact, to any extent you feel needed. If you control your thought process and emotions, you control your level of peace.

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As Written by Chris "Woo" Trader of http://WooInWonderland.com