Oh, No, It's Monday Already

Good morning out there in blogland.  It's a sunny morning here in Brooklyn, but looks are deceiving.  It's windy, and there is quite a chill in the air.  The weatherman said it was going to go up to 48 degrees by Sunday.  Could that mean Spring is really on its way?

Yes, it's another Monday morning...one of those days when you want to pull the covers over your head and go back to sleep.  Actually, that's getting to be everyday for me.  I really, really DO want to retire...so much so that I am beginning to allow my inability to follow through on it make my life miserable.  I am just so tired of working.  Heck, my grandparents were retired at my age.  But, that was then and this is now.  And that is just something that I have to face.  I'm not making myself feel any better by constantly wishing and hoping for something that just cannot be right now.  This constant harping has become a great hindrance to my peace of mind.

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself."--Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's true.  Once of the greatest hindrances to our peace of mind stems from the way we talk to ourselves in the privacy of our own minds.  "You can't do anything right.", "You should have known better.", "I can't stand this job.  I don't want to go to work anymore."  This unfriendly self-talk causes us great stress and unhappiness.  I once read a book called "Your Body Believes Every Word You Say".  Those little messages that we are constantly replaying over and over again in our minds, becomes our reality.  In my case, yes, I have a job that I an unhappy in; there is no denying that, but it most certainly doesn't help to keep reminding myself over and over again how MUCH I dislike it.  It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.  


True peace comes from the harmony we feel within ourselves.  We don't go out and find peace of mind; it's the result of what we do, of the messages we tell ourselves.  Harmony is being at ease with ourselves, with our lives.  This isn't an easy task for those of us who continually send negative messages to ourself, but creating empowering self-talk is not impossible.  It starts with acknowledging to ourselves in a positive way and then committing to do so.  


This doesn't mean that we must solve all of our problems before we can find inner peace, for life is much like a mountain road...full of twists and turns and unexpected bumps.  The "Serenity Prayer" says:


"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
The courage to change the things that I can, And the wisdom to know the difference."


Inner peace can be a reality if we accept that there are things we cannot change...and take up the challenges that we can.  Retirement is out of the question for me.  It is just a thought...a thought that has begun to take on a life of its own..a thought that has been causing me a great deal of stress and unhappiness...a thought that I know I will have to change if I ever hope to find inner peace.