Choosing Peace

When we were children, we all looked forward to having more freedom. We idolized adults, older kids, and our parents for their ability to choose when to go to bed and how much ice cream to eat. Little did we know how difficult it was to make such decisions and how every choice has a consequence that we have to bear the responsibility for.

Choosing peace is a simple, internal, choice that often comes in stillness when one is alone.

Sometimes, it comes at the end of an enormous rupture or other times, after a long period of quiet endurance. Regardless of the catalyst, its softness often reads as inaction to the naive; however, what does it really take to prioritize peace?

Prioritizing peace means going home when your nervous system is too much to regulate. It means waiting for people, places, and spaces to feel calm before stepping into them. It means practicing discretion and choosing what feels good over what feels convenient. Peace means letting go when you want to hold on.

Prioritizing peace means sitting with the longing for the life you dreamed that didn't come to fruition. It's grieving the reality you made in your head and letting truth take its place. It's feeling fully, in a safe container, over taking impulsive action. It's saying, "No, I won't go there unless I feel supported," and, "Yes, I'll maintain what I hope to sustain."

Prioritizing peace might look passive to some, but it is rooted in decisiveness and devotion.

I stand in my power.

I have the power to choose.

And with this authority over my life, I consciously choose peace.