The first step to achieving inner peace requires us to make the decision to stop living in the past, and choose a different life for ourselves. Regardless of how much suffering we have experienced in our lives, we all have the power to mentally visualise the life we want. Doing this allows us to receive spiritual support, which helps guide us towards achieving this vision. The first thing we need to do is break down the fears that have defined our past, so that we can live freely in the present. We need to tear down the walls that we have built over the years in an attempt to protect ourselves from something we did not want to face. These walls did not protect us, but isolated us, and distanced us from happiness. In order to start fearlessly being ourselves, we have to dismantle the patterns of thought and behaviour that have defined our life so far. External factors do not determine whether or not we will live a happier and more fulfilling life, because the peace and love we need are already part of us: we just have to free them from the years of conscious and unconscious constraints.
Visualising a better life is a transformative act in itself, because it sets a regenerative process in motion that enables us to achieve inner peace and the future we want. The intention alone is a crucial step towards this change, but we must start with addressing our unresolved past traumas. We will only be able to move forward, and leave our past wounds behind, once we have healed them. Doing so requires courage: most people spend their lives avoiding their fears and past wounds, under the illusion that they can simply sweep them under the rug. It is often very painful to come to terms with who we are, and accept that our weaker traits are also an integral and fundamental part of us. Unfortunately, however, this is the only way to find inner peace and live a better life. This journey of healing should not be tackled alone, so it is essential that we seek the help of someone we trust, such as a therapist, a counsellor, a spiritual guide, or a friend. This might just be the bravest part of the entire journey.
Suffering is part of the process, and we have to accept it into our lives. We all suffer, or have suffered, and although talking about our pain is considered taboo, admitting that we have problems, or have had problems in the past, allows us to start talking about our suffering and gain a new perspective. Embracing our suffering is the only way to overcome it, but we have to truly believe that in doing so, we will achieve a better life. We can start by thinking about how we would like our life to be from now on.
