Cultivate Tranquility in the Midst of Chaos Part 2

“If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.”

— Chinese proverb

In an unprecedented time, if you are sheltering at home, take care to nurture and nourish yourself with time out. There is a collective stillness and centering available, if you will use this time to ground yourself in the simple things of life, and explore the interior riches that have always been there, but have been ignored in the rush of “normal” daily life. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to discover inner resources by choosing serenity and openness instead of trying to dictate to life. Let Life Itself lead you into what your heart most longs for.

You look in the mirror, but instead of a serene smiling face, you see your own worried countenance. How do you achieve serenity in this ever-accelerating modern age? How can you find the stillness and tranquility that brings a higher perspective on life and your place in it?  It doesn’t have to be a complex solution or the entire rearrangement of your life. Cultivating inner serenity can begin with small adjustments that will shift your attention and move you into a calmer place. Serenity is a gift that comes moment-by-moment, choice-by-choice. It grows from within and expands outwardly. Serenity can exist in the midst of a storm as well as when the sun shines in a cloudless sky. 

 Here’s an illustration that shows what stress can do—and how making a simple, subtle change can relieve stress and make life easier. Place a small rock in the open palm of your hand. Now clench your fist around that rock, holding it tightly, keeping your muscles rigid and tense. How long can you hold this position comfortably? Notice how quickly your hand tires. If you hold this position for too long, your hand becomes stiff and painful, and that rigidity spreads to your entire body. Now open your hand again, allowing the rock to lie comfortably in the center of your open palm. Hold it softly, open, still, and quiet. Do you think you could hold the rock more comfortably for a longer period of time in this open position?

How often have you clutched your life in a clenched fist, fighting the natural forces, trying to control and confine life within the small boundaries of your fears and expectations? It is as uncomfortable for the human heart to be clenched and closed as it is for the human hand. Stress is the hand grasping and clutching. Serenity is an open hand ready to receive the gifts life has to offer and to release that which no longer serves; choosing to believe in Something Greater than the limits that our life conditions would indicate. Finding serenity is less about keeping your outer life under control, and more about anchoring your reality in the unseen of the spiritual realm. There is a Higher Power and an inner wisdom that can offer you peace in the midst of the storm. Cultivating that interior life can transform you from the inside out. 

You may find serenity gazing on a lighted candle, or opening the door of a newly ordered closet, or in making a clear commitment to honoring your own truth. Simple ideas for a practical spirituality—or a spiritual practicality—help you create an island of serenity in a sea of chaos. As you anchor yourself to a serenity that begins within, it eventually affects the outer conditions of your life.

Affirmations

• I am willing to let go of old preconceptions and explore new ways of looking at life.

 • My home nourishes my soul and is a creative reflection of the inner serenity I am cultivating. 

 • I know that I am guided as I listen to my heart and keep an open mind.

Cultivating tranquility allows you to experience the life force moving through you and to tap into the essence of your own being. When you are in a place of stillness and serenity everything becomes clear and you gain a more detached and higher perspective on whatever situation you are experiencing. As muddy water in a glass settles and clears with patient waiting, so your mind and emotions can settle and clarify when you choose to practice inner stillness. Choosing to focus on each moment with quiet awareness, you are more able to respond appropriately and make fully conscious choices instead of allowing yourself to be driven by unconscious forces. 

“We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny. But what we put into it is ours.”

— Dag Hammarskjöld

Make choices that promote peace and harmony. Instead of trying to keep up with a world that is spinning too fast, step aside from the daily whirlwind and seek a more soulful path. Make more conscious choices and avoid getting caught up in chaotic emotions or events. 

Stand still, breathe deeply, and let go of the need to keep up with everything and everyone. Savor the moment, stop and smell the roses, smile at your naive assumptions of self-importance, and recognize that God is in charge. You are not responsible for running the world, and the world will not end if you take time to slow down and nourish your spirit. Enjoy the freedom of letting the earth spin on its axis without you pushing or pulling to make it happen. Let go and let God. Pause and listen for the still small voice. Then consciously choose, just in this moment, to create a life that is more joyful, loving, and harmonious. 

“The greatest security we can have, in the face of antagonism and the inner and outer complexities of life, is to be consciously connected with the unchanging sense of self at the core of our being.”

— John Maxwell Taylor

“Let us leave the surface and, without leaving the world, plunge into God.”

— Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Let Inspiration Guide Your Choices

Inspiration and enthusiasm are necessary to the highest use of this Power—quick joy in recognition and gladness in realization. There is something triumphant and transcendent about it. Do not be afraid of these higher emotions. Consciousness of the Power will buoy you up, it will not pull you down. 

Ernest Holmes

Chaos theory tells us that a change as subtle as the movement of a butterfly wing can affect the formation of a storm on the other side of the globe. You cannot predict how or when or even if your choice will change the world, but a new thought and a different choice will certainly help you begin to see beyond a current belief structure and past experience. You can choose to move beyond your own outdated boundaries and limited context to create a more intelligent response to a challenging situation. In doing so, you open to greater possibilities.

The victim gives up before she even begins. The one who chooses with greater consciousness becomes a co-creator with God, exercising her power and potential in a new way. It is not a question of whether we make choices. We make them all the time. It is a question of whether or not we are making those choices consciously. 

Once you realize that you are the chooser and begin to make more choices consciously, you discover that you are not only creating new options, you are also developing a better character. You open the door to becoming more than you were before you made your choice. Because you have started to take responsibility and claim your power to choose consciously, a new skill and understanding will grow and flourish within your heart and soul. 

Believe that your choices count. Choose what is most meaningful for you, whether others agree or disagree. Make choices that honor your highest potential, especially in difficult and demanding times. 

• Activity: Take one baby step toward a cherished goal. Plant a seed in your field of dreams. Say an affirmative “yes” to what can be. 

• Affirmation: I honor the possibilities as I listen for the inspired idea. I trust my intuitive guidance, and follow my heart.    

Trust Divine Timing

By going a few minutes sooner or later, by stopping to speak with a friend on the corner, by meeting this man or that, or by turning down this street instead of the other, we may let slip some impending evil, by which the whole current of our lives would have been changed. There is no possible solution in the dark enigma but the one word, “Providence.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Timing is everything. Learning to trust Divine timing is an art that requires patience and faith, but it bears blessed fruit. If you are experiencing delays or are frustrated because results don’t come as quickly as you had hoped or in the way you think they should, relinquish your need to control or predict when, where, and how things will unfold. 

Accepting the limitations of human life can be an act of faith. It is easier to embrace life as it is rather than to continue resisting and rebelling. Your acceptance frees you to trust in the God who can transcend the limitations of time and transform challenging circumstances into rich blessings. 

As a society we bind ourselves to time that can be measured, but Divine timing is rooted in eternity. When your plans are interrupted, take a deep breath and give yourself time to think before you react. When a desired outcome is delayed, trust that there is a lesson in the detour. If cherished plans do not come to fruition, choose to believe that God may have a better way to fulfill the desires of your heart.  Affirm that Divine wisdom orchestrates your life. 

Providence is an old-fashioned word with a timeless meaning. Saint John of Damascus said, “Providence is the care God takes of all existing things.”  Providence refers to the Divine at work in our lives. Believe that providence is at work in your life in unseen, mysterious, and wonderful ways.     

• Activity: • The next time you are struck in traffic or your flight is delayed, instead of complaining, look for hidden blessings. See each delay or detour as a divine appointment, knowing that God’s perfect timing is at work. 

• Affirmation: I am in the perfect place at the perfect time. Right time. Divine time. God orchestrates everything in my life with perfect ease and grace. 

Cultivate Tranquility in the Midst of Chaos

Before anything is brought back into order, it is quite normal for it to be brought first into a kind of confusion, a virtual chaos. In this way, things that fit together badly are severed from each other; and when they have been severed, then the Lord arranges them in order.

Emanuel Swedenborg 

Times of crisis and change can feel overwhelming. However, a choice to see this from a higher perspective opens the door to new and better ways of approaching our lives. Sometimes it takes a shake-up to wake us up. We must be willing to release that which no longer serves us and open our minds to more empowering ways of being in this world. We can learn to see our troubles less as problems to be solved and more as challenges calling us to grow and evolve. 

Human troubles cannot trump spiritual realities. We all carry within us inner greatness and potential. It is our birthright as human beings to be co-creators with the Divine Intelligence. There is a deep wisdom and flow of energy working in, through, and for us as grace unfolding. 

Remember that chaos is a part of the process of life. Trust that Divine processes and rhythms are at work. When you find yourself in the midst of outer chaos, understand with inner peace and confidence that this, too, is working all things together for the highest good.

• Activity: Take time to ground yourself when things feel out of control. Go for a walk in a quiet natural sanctuary. Write in your journal or talk to a trusted friend. Get more sleep. Take good care of yourself. Spend extra time in prayer and reflection.  

• Affirmation: As I open to change and ride through chaos I see all the pieces of my life move into new and happier and more harmonious patterns of grace.