To be a person of peace; to life a peaceful life; and to
pursue a life of non-violence a person must first look to
themselves before looking to the world around them. A
person must be at peace with themselves before they can be
at peace with others and their environment. There are many
factors that are involved in establishing peace with
yourself and all of them require some person effort and
responsibility but they pay great dividends to the person
who will pursue them. The person who pursues peace can live
without fear; for who can question peace? Who can punish
peaceful behavior? Who can question non-violence? Even if
peaceful, non-violent behavior is questioned or punished one
knows in one's heart the truth of matter. Only those
cowards who live in fear resulting in violence and
aggression will be offended by the peaceful person;
understand what a person, most derides and you'll understand
their greatest fear. Some of the factors involved in
establishing peace with yourself are:
1. Engaging in forgiveness of yourself and others
2. Accepting ultimate responsibility for you actions
and circumstances
3. Pursuing the discovery of your personal purpose in life
4. Establishing for yourself a system of faith
5. Letting go of such things as revenge, retribution, and personal
offense
6. Letting go of old ways practiced for
generations if they are unproductive
7. Renewing your mind, body, and spirit on a daily basis
8. Developing humility and looking to others before yourself
9. Developing a perspective of the world around you that is
not based in stereotypes of masculine, feminine, ethnicity,
race, or religion.
10. A study of, and incorporation of the virtues of
patience, compassion, mercy gentleness, temperance, and humaneness.
11. The acceptance of living a full life no matter your current
cirmumstances.
Once you begin the work of peace within
yourself then peace will spread outward from you to the
world around your. First, your friends, and family, then
your community, then your enemies, and outward to the world.
This is the true path of global peace; one person at a time
finding peace within themselves. It is my belief that those
who are most violent possess the greatest capacity for peace
and non-violence and it all starts by accepting the
challenge of examining yourself everyday and choosing peace
over violence. I encourage you to look in the mirror of
your life everyday and begin to develop the ways of peace
and to put aside violence; developing a new perspective
towards friends, family, enemies, challengers, and the world
at large.
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Resource Box
_____________________
Darrin Coe holds a masters degree in professional psychology
and is the founder of The Secret Society For Peace. He teaches
and practices the principles of peace as a mental health
professional in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
YOu can contact Mr. Coe at
loki@... or through the SS4P
website at
http://dcoe1.tripod.com/==================================================================
