Maintaining your Calm

Life can be chaotic in the best of times, but when you throw in a pandemic, fires, floods, and political tensions, a stressful concoction will bubble up. Our emotions and sensibilities are being pulled in a million different directions, so how can we maintain a sense of calm and peace? Let me give you ten suggestions for preserving the peace.

Soak up nature

Being outside can be restorative because nature has the power to heal. A walk on a beautiful day, a swim in a lake, or simply observing what is around you can cause a sense of peace and make you forget your troubles. Sit outside with a cup of coffee and forget about your troubles.

Exercise

Movement is a natural stress reliever. If you are filled with emotions, go for a walk, a run, a swim, or a bike ride, and the troubles will fall off behind you. Let your mind go blank except for observing what is around you.

Listen to your music

Music can motivate you with a catchy beat, but it can also calm you down with soothing sounds. I always say that dancing in the kitchen or singing at the top of your voice in the car will make any problem seem unimportant.

Laugh

Laughter seems to make problems bubble away. You cannot possibly be stressed when you are laughing. Hearing laughter has the same effect, especially if it is from a child. My oldest daughter and I react to each other’s laughter, and my sister could not keep from laughing if she heard my laughter. It is better than any medicine.

Control how much news you watch

I believe everyone should be informed, but too much news will raise your emotions and your stress level too high. When I see emotional stories I think about them for weeks, and it weighs heavy on me. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who is affected this way, so watch some uplifting stories too.

Play with an animal

It is proven that animals have a therapeutic effect on us. They make us laugh and they make us feel loved and needed.

Be still

Doing nothing can calm you down as you regroup and relax.

Disconnect

Social media is a lot of emotions swirling around and demanding likes and comments. It can be exhausting. Put all your technology away for a while every day.

Pray

Take some quiet time and pray for what’s on your mind. Releasing our worries through prayer can relieve some of the burden.

Do what you love

Doing more of what we love can make us happy and when we are happy, we are more peaceful.

If you can incorporate these ten things into your life, you can at least partially shut out all the craziness around you and find some peace. Each day brings a chance for renewal and new hope.