LET PEACE LEAD THE WAY. . .
“Let peace lead the way,” our neighbor David offered when my husband and I were discussing some options in our lives.
Let peace lead the way. I love that!
But do we all want peace? Not according to an old friend and philosophical author I know. “We don’t want
peace!” he touted. “We want freedom.”
What would you choose as the ultimate nirvana? Peace or freedom?
On the purely physical level, peace for me, means all is well in my world. The house is clean, taxes are done, e-mails are answered, no one is barking at my heels. I can relax. Ah.
On the emotional level, peace means that there are no loose ends in my relationships, no gaping wounds that need to be healed or forgiven. I am at peace. I accept what is, and more importantly, what isn’t!
On the spiritual level, peace means that all is in balance. While my outcomes may not be what I had hoped for, wished for or dreamed of, I am, however, at a place of understanding and then acceptance of why it is the way it is. The universe had lessons for me or manifested an even better outcome than my pea-brain ego mind could have imagined.
Freedom on the other hand can be a dangerous commodity, especially if the new reality is alien. Examples that come to mind are teenagers who are given Ferraris for their 18th birthdays or lottery winners who one day, are deep in debt, living in a trailer park and the next day are besieged by great wealth. It might be intoxicating at first, but what happens in the long run to friendships, family relations and the pervasive bad habits that got them into debt in the first place?
When we are used to some parameters, how can we suddenly cope with being able to do anything, have anything and be anything? Does that bring peace? In my world, freedom brings with it a responsibility of right use of power. Can we have too much freedom? Is there such a thing as too much peace?
“Let freedom lead you,” is a nice thought but I already feel mostly free. So I choose peace as the place where I want to hang out. And if I do get bored, as my philosopher friend suggested that I would, I can always create some lively drama.
When I asked my husband what he would choose— peace or freedom— he oh-so-wisely responded, “Maybe peace brings you freedom. Then you can do whatever you want in peace.
Your thoughts?
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