Finding peace within is sometimes a mysterious topic. One may often wonder what it even means within the hustle and bustle of daily life; is it possible? Can it ever be achieved? We are overloaded with a seemingly endless to do list and people to please. Being aware of not feeling at peace can be a motivation to find it again, and to overcome the challenges that are presented to us.

The first question for overcoming the feeling of being ill at ease is to identify why you feel ill at ease. Perhaps your to do list has not been worked on and is becoming quite frightening, or perhaps the problem is with the to do list itself. Maybe the thought of everything on that list gives you no satisfaction at all. If the problem is that you have not done any work on your to do list in a long time, the solution may be very simple; break the list down into smaller steps. For example: If you have a presentation due on the topic of women’s rights in Canada, you might want to break the project down into doing an introduction on day 1, the body of the presentation on day 2, and the conclusion of the presentation on day 3. Doing this with the various items on your to do list will help to make things less scary, and more approachable.

On the other hand, if your to do list is filled with things that are not rewarding, then you may need to conduct an evaluation of your goals and desired end results for your various pursuits. Sometimes we avoid doing work because we do not truly care anymore about the results. For example, if I want to get a high school diploma, I will go to class and do the homework and act generally respectful of those around me in order to facilitate my success. If you do not want a high school diploma anymore, you may consider dropping some of the items off your to do list. In this case, I would recommend speaking with a guidance counselor who may be able to re-light the motivation to complete the diploma. If you are knocking off things on your to do list, you are closer to achieving the goals you originally set out for yourself. The question is how you can regain a sense of inner peace amid seemingly random, negative emotions?

There are many strategies for regaining peace within:

• Take some time to reflect upon all of the things that you are grateful for.
• Do some meditation or conduct concentrated moments of silence.
• Talk with a friend about positive things in your life.
• Get a little exercise to increase your brain’s natural feel good chemicals.
• Do some yoga, or engage in an activity that makes you feel good.

Finding peace within is something that is always in your control. You are always able to regain it; it just takes some investigating to find solutions that will work for you. Good luck!