I put this on the main board today, but I'm putting it here in case it gets lost.

Nine Ways to Find Peace of Mind
All of us can live a fulfilling life in the middle of the turmoil.
By Susan Jeffers, Ph.D.
Excerpted from http://www.beliefnet.com/story/124/story_12456_1.html

Adapted from her book, "Embracing Uncertainty."

All of us can rise above any situation that life hands us.
All of us can live a fulfilling life in the middle of the turmoil.
All of us can find a sense of peace and purpose.

1. â??Un-set" your heart. Un-setting your heart means letting go of your picture of how you want it all to be. It means letting go of trying to control things over which you have no control.

2. Create a "wondering" life instead of a "hoping" life. It helps us un-set our hearts when we replace the words "I hope" with the words "I wonder." Notice the relief in this simple shift. Even with difficult situations in our lives, substituting â??I wonderâ?? for â??I hopeâ?? keeps our hopes from being dashed and opens up the possibility of our learning and growing from whatever happens.

3. Choose the path of trust. When you fully understand that you have little control of the external world, you then have two choices: you can choose to see yourself as a "poor-me" victim at the mercy of circumstances or you can choose to develop the trust that, no matter what happens in your life or in the world, you will have the inner strength to create something good from it all.

4. Increase your inner sense of power. One way to help you develop trust in yourself is to cut off negativity in the mind by saying to yourself over and over again, "Whatever happens in my life, I'll handle it. If you say it often enough, you will ultimately believe it. And if you really believe that you can handle anything that happens in your life and in the world, what could you possibly have to fear? Nothing!

So when the "what-if's" are driving you mad, simply cut them off by saying over and over again, "Whatever happens, I'll handle it!"


5. Collect "heroes" who have learned to "handle it." Heroes to me are people who have created much good in this world as a result of horrible experiences in their lives. A few heroes come to mind: Christopher Reeve, who created so much good as a result of his paralyzing accident. As you collect your heroes, your trust grows and your worry about the future gets smaller and smaller.

6. Focus on the learning that can come from any situation in your life. Yes, you can learn and find strength from anything that happens to you.

7. Embrace the thought "It's all happening perfectly." Yes, so much good can come from so much that is bad. In that, it truly is happening perfectly.


8. Focus on the blessings. It's now time to notice. It sounds ridiculous, but we actually have to train ourselves to notice all the beauty in our lives. Focusing on the blessings is an absolute necessity for diffusing our fears about the future.


9. Get involved. Positive action has an amazing effect on our psyche. As we take action, we begin to feel more powerful and our fear about the future decreases considerably.