Last week, I listened to my favorite Chicago couple
Miz Chartreuse and Bokeen wax poetic on things they thought were overrated or underrated on their podcast. On her final take, Miz C (one of my favorite
bloggers as well) said that she felt world peace was overrated and inner peace was an underrated concept.
That might throw you for a loop. Isn't world peace something we all dream of? Isn't it something we strive for? Well yes but think about this for a bit. I sat listening to Miz C and thought she was right. Too often we don't find that happiness in ourselves that can't be affected by outside events and we often determine our mood by things such as weather, the music we play or what awaits us.
Take one look at the news and you'll be disheartened by what's going on. World peace is such a noble thing for us to wish for but it's becoming as abstract an idea as anything now. It's a dream but I don't think everyday people can do enough to affect it. It's a concept in the hands of world leaders and armies and it looks different to different people.
It might sound weird as a Christian saying that world peace is merely an ideal but as a realist, I know that it requires too many satisfying factors to ever come true and it's out of my control as well as yours. That's why I think inner peace is the greater goal.
Look at that Confucious quote. People used to strive to better themselves. We look all over the world and in books for self-help advice but the best advice is to find what brings you peace and chase it.
Inner peace will affect the world around you because it'll inspire people to look within themselves instead of look outside. It's something you can actually work for because only you can find peace within yourself. It requires you to be content and focus inward so that you can truly be an agent of change. You can't fix the world until you fix yourself.
Inner peace is also more attractive because people will want to know what makes you so chill. Once you gain confidence and satisfaction in who you are and refuse to let anything interfere with your joy, you'll be a better person.
Could life be better? Sure. My life could be better if I had certain factors come my way. But then I'd be overlooking what I have now that makes life great. The old hymn says "Count your blessings", not count what it takes to be blessed. So I'm focused on looking at myself and what I have and trying to be content with it in the meantime. You should do the same.
I'm not saying give up on world peace. I'm saying that in working towards it, work on yourself first. There are a lot of unhappy people in the world and the only way to heal that isn't by making the world as a whole better, it's helping them fix themselves and realize their self-worth. By helping people find inner peace, it makes the world better as well.
Besides, world peace will be in the United States next year. Assuming we have an NBA season.
Special props again to
Charlotte for inspiration. What do you think?
