Every time you have a thought, you have the choice to make it a thought oriented toward peace or a thought oriented toward doing harm.
Every time. I do too.
It simply takes a notice, a pause, a filter, and an intention to do no harm.
When you intentionally develop or reinstate a peace filter in your mind, you are on your way to guaranteeing (as much as we can, being human and all) that your words and actions will follow suit and build bridges to peace.
Sometimes the desire for a little violence invades our thoughts.
Our feelings are hurt. We are disappointed. Our sadness turns into angry thoughts. I get it.
When this happens to me, I use a little visualizing trick I was taught when I was in Borneo on a meditation retreat and orangutan tour. I simply imagine a recording device in my brain and say, “Pause, rewind, delete.”
This signals that I want to let the negative thought go and replace it with a positive intent.
My former hypnotherapist taught me that when some real harm was done to me, to get comfortable replacing thoughts of anger and revenge plots with, “Bless you on your journey.”
It works. It brings relief. And it tips the balance of peace and harm in the world toward peace.
Open to giving it a chance? Let me know what you notice.
Already do something similar?
The energy each of us puts into this world matters. So why not focus on peace?