Trust30 – #27 – The Triumph of Principles
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
The prompt for this day says to take a big hairy life goal that you haven't started yet, or that you have been having a hard time with, and write down three uncertainties – fears – that you have concerning it. Then break that down a little further and write three reasons for the fear. That's a good idea, and I may get to that in a future post, but first I have to address the quote. I have a fundamental problem with the first part of this little couplet, because I believe it may contradict the second part. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself? Yes – By submitting to and following correct principles. Because it's too easy to use that first part to say that "I am a law unto myself." Without the appropriate perception and attitude, you can spend a lot of time beating your head into walls and thinking that you're pursuing peace. You don't get to the moon and back without an understanding of life sciences, gravity, metallurgy, navigation, physics, etc. With the right understanding of the principles involved, even the sky isn't the limit.
So, what are the principles that we have to adhere to? What principles exist that we can cling to? Are there any?
Tracy Hickman uses a tagline on his Dragonhearth podcast that I have always appreciated – "May you always publish peace." It's a reference to the book of Isaiah.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! - Isaiah 52:7 – KJV
I believe that peace doesn't come from me. It's something that happens naturally when I'm following correct principles. So, from a certain point of view (thank you, Obi-Wan Kenobi), it is up to me to get "peace". But that peace doesn't come from me – it's a natural result of me following the path that leads to it. And here we are talking paths again.
It's really very simple. How do you achieve financial peace? Have a budget. Spend less than you take in. Look for ways to increase your earning potential. Save, invest appropriately. Have a plan for when it all goes to pot.
How do you achieve familial peace? That takes work. It takes being willing to be forgiving and gentle. It also takes honesty. And being willing to stand up for yourself. There's a time to be gentle and loving, and there's a time to dig in the heels and say "we're not doing that." It takes working toward consensus as opposed to compromise. No one is happy with compromise. No one wants to defend a compromise. Consensus takes more work, but once you're there, everyone understands it and is willing to stand behind it. I may have more to say about consensus and compromise later (if I haven't already said it elsewhere).
How do you achieve peace with yourself? How do you forgive yourself for not living up to your own expectations, let alone anyone else's? Do your best. Accept that the results may be out of your hands. But take ownership of and put forth the effort. And if you don't get the right results – change your efforts. In fact, you may look a little deeper and consider what unspoken beliefs may be driving you to think that if you make action A that you will get result B.
Find correct principles. Apply them. Live them. And the peace will naturally follow.
