Given the choice between living in anger and living in peace, I hope we all would choose peace.  The noise of the world often obscures the fact that we have a choice in how we interact. 

If we are not careful, we can quickly get sucked into a doom and gloom attitude.  Let’s face it, we are all problem solvers.  The question is, how are we addressing the daily chaos that we face?  There is a recipe we can follow to help us move through the chaos, but our “will” can choose a different direction at any time.

What seems rather unrelated to the question is, do we like who we are, do we believe in ourselves, and do we have a positive attitude toward ourselves?  If we don’t like the person we have become, anger will overpower peace. 

Are we concentrating on what’s going wrong, keeping us in a continuous state of turmoil and stress?  The struggles are real.  I don’t see them going away anytime soon.  It’s a hard, difficult, stressful, anxiety-filled world.   Add to that the never-ending use of our devices that offer immediate access to communicate how unhappy we are at all times of the day.

A friend of mine suggested making a list throughout the day of all the things you want to tell your person (parent, friend, spouse, etc.).  In the evening, review the list and talk to your person about all the things that are still relevant.  It is eye-opening how many of those urgent problems are no longer an issue or important. 

Time has a way of helping our minds process the information.  I work hard at waiting 24 hours before discussing an issue with someone.  It provides me time to review the problem and address it with a clear and peaceful mind.     

Although things happen that we don’t understand and seem unfair, I choose to take a perspective of being grateful.  Stress, anxiety, and anger are not productive.   When I decide to be grateful, I am able to walk through any struggle and come out feeling at peace with Jesus.

The recipe for peace is living with love.  One can put that to action by being grateful, thankful, and prayerful; leading by example through love and compassion.

Without peace, every single hiccup in life becomes anxiety and anger, and all that anger blocks us from having a positive, grateful, thankful attitude.  Haste usually brings anger, and gratitude normally brings peace.

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