Peacemakers take the time in their lives to engage in habits that cultivate inner peace, which then permeates outward into the rest of their lives. We will explore some of the practices stellar peacemakers use.
1. Mindfulness
Our bodies are designed to perceive and react to threats. Our brains have two amygdalae, designed to help us respond to emergencies. “When we perceive a threat, the amygdala sound an alarm, releasing a cascade of chemicals in the body. Stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol flood our system, immediately preparing us for fight or flight.”1 This is an automatic response, one we cannot necessarily stop.
But we can control it. We can take steps to limit its effects. One of the best methods is trying to become more mindful. The term mindfulness has been around for some time. In short, it means staying in the present, allowing our brains to focus on the here and now, rather than drifting to other places and times.
2. Intentional Breathing
Another habit that many peacemakers develop is intentional breathing. When our brains trigger our flight-or-fight instincts, which can happen when someone begins a conversation with an argumentative statement, our ability to remain calm on the inside is crucial. Breathing can help with this. One technique is to breathe in slowly while counting to four, hold that breath for a count of four, and then release it while counting down from four.
That practice establishes a rhythm but also allows us to become more aware of our body and what it is doing. In that moment of awareness, we have more control of our emotions and can find inner peace.
3. Spiritual Practices
Many peacemakers find inner peace through spiritual practices. Those who take their faith seriously—that is, those who are not affiliated with a religion just for cultural or worldly reasons—often find a powerful inner stillness that permeates throughout the rest of their lives. They find that through practices such as prayer, service, religious meetings, community worship, and the study of sacred texts. One reason for this is that it gives purpose, meaning, and focus to their lives.
▶ You may also like: President Russell M. Nelson: 3 ways to find peace in Christ
If you are among those who take their religion seriously and would like to get more out of it on your path to becoming a peacemaker, one helpful practice is to begin the day with one of the above activities that will remind you of who you are and what your higher purpose is in this life.
The teachings of many of the world’s religions emphasize this. The primary idea is that, as people yield themselves to a higher power, they will find inner peace. In other words, we do not find peace by focusing on the self but by yielding the self. For Christians, this idea is reflected in the following:
Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life.2
A similar idea was expressed here:
Now, you may be thinking this sounds more like hard spiritual work than rest. But here is the grand truth: while the world insists that power, possessions, popularity, and pleasures of the flesh bring happiness, they do not! . . . The truth is that it is much more exhausting to seek happiness where you can never find it!3
For Christians, the notion is that peace comes to us as we give up all of our worldly desires, which can never be satisfied. We do this by yielding our desires to God’s desires. His focus becomes our focus, and that single-mindedness is almost always the charitable, selfless service to others. To do this, however, Christians must engage in those habits that allow them to align their wills with God. And the practices of prayer, service, worship, and scripture study are among those. By making them a part of our day, we engage in practices of losing our desires for that which can temporarily satisfy but will always leave us wanting more.
4. Journaling
Studies have consistently shown that journaling is good for our mental health. It can help reduce depression, anxiety, and stress, which in turn can improve immune function. It helps those who have psychiatric conditions recover faster.4 And it also increases one’s sense of gratitude. In short, it is a remarkable tool for helping us develop inner peace.
With all those benefits so readily apparent, the only reasonable question is: why wouldn’t you journal? The answer is also readily apparent. Many of us feel we just don’t have time. This is where habits come in. Perhaps the best way to make journaling a habit in our lives is to ensure we don’t allow great expectations to be the enemy. In other words, we do not need to write a chapter in a book every day for journaling to be effective. Small entries, even a few bullet points, are fine.
Those minor entries build on themselves. Over time, the journaling starts to propel itself as we feel and recognize its benefits. As it does, you will find yourself on the road to becoming a peacemaker, and you’ll also have created a narrative of your life you and your posterity will cherish forever.
5. Reading
Reading is a similar super habit for achieving inner peace. And by “reading,” I don’t mean scrolling social media or short, poorly written articles about some pop culture phenomenon. I’m talking about books. It helps develop intelligence and brain function (including memory as we age). Reading literary fiction can help us become more empathetic. It reduces stress and can help us relax.5
All of those benefits contribute to our inner calm and raise the same issues as with journaling. We know reading is valuable, so why don’t we do it more? The key, once again, is establishing the habit. If we make it as easy as possible to read, we are more likely to engage in it. One way to do that is to ensure we have books that might interest us all over our home. I like to have books by my bed, my couch, my desk, and in every room. My hope is that if I put my phone down long enough, I’ll pick up a book instead.
6. Schedule Management
Cultivating the inner peace necessary to be a peacemaker requires something each of us has in very limited supply: time. No matter how much we may like to think otherwise, we are all running out of time. We may agree that journaling, reading, meditations, prayer, religious observances, or any combination of those activities are worthwhile, but finding time for them is difficult. Merely hoping we will find a window generally doesn’t work. We tell ourselves we’ll do it later in the morning, after dinner, or before bed, but more often than not, we are skipping it altogether.
Peacemakers deliberately carve out time for engaging in these practices. They recognize that the rest of their time is so much more valuable when they take care of themselves mentally and spiritually (for those who value spirituality).
Every aspect of the world will try to intervene. Emails and texts from bosses, coworkers, clients, or family will never stop. Our many obligations will always loom. The latest, most interesting news developments will ceaselessly beckon. But if we can wall ourselves away from those things for just long enough to engage in those practices that will help us move toward a sense of inner peace, we will have taken a huge step forward to becoming a peacemaker.6
Learn more in Habits of a Peacemaker
Notes
1. Diane Musho Hamilton, “Calming Your Brain during Conflict,” Harvard Business Review, December 22, 2015, https://hbr.org/2015/12/calming-your-brain-during-conflict.
2. Ezra Taft Benson, “Jesus Christ—Gifts and Expectations,” Ensign, December 1988, 4.
3. Russel M. Nelson, “Overcome the World and Find Rest,” Liahona, November 2022, 97.
4. Eric Stice et al., “Randomized Trial of a Brief Depression Prevention Program: An Elusive Search for a Psychosocial Placebo Control Condition,” Behaviour Research and Therapy 45, no. 5 (May 2007): 863–76, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2006.08.008 (on depression and journaling); Parisa Hasanzadeh, Masoud Fallahi Khoshknab, and Kian Norozi, “Impacts of Journaling on Anxiety and Stress in Multiple Sclerosis Patients,” Complementary Medicine Journal 2, no. 2 (September 2012): 183–193; Karen A. Baikie and Kay Wilhelm, “Emotional and Physical Health Benefits of Expressive Writing,” Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 11, no. 5 (2005): 338–46, https://doi.org/10.1192/apt.11.5.338 (on journaling and immune function); Benjamin Villaggi et al, “Self-Management Strategies in Recovery from Mood and Anxiety Disorders,” Global Qualitative Nursing Research 2 (2015): https://doi.org/10.1177/2333393615606092 (on journaling and recovery).
5. Stuart J. Ritchie, Timothy C. Bates, and Robert Plomin, “Does Learning to Read Improve Intelligence? A Longitudinal Multivariate Analysis in Identical Twins from Age 7 to 16,” Child Development 86, no. 1 (2015): 23–36, https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12272 (on reading and developing intelligence); Elizabeth A.L. Stine-Morrow et al., “The Effects of Sustained Literacy Engagement on Cognition and Sentence Processing Among Older Adults,” Frontiers in Psychology 13 (2022): 923795, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.923795 (on reading and brain function as we age); David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castano, “Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind,” Science 342, no. 6156 (October 2013): 377–80, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1239918 (on reading and empathy); Denise Rizzolo et al., “Stress Management Strategies for Students: The Immediate Effects of Yoga, Humor, and Reading on Stress,” Journal of College Teaching & Learning 6, no. 8 (December 2009): 79–88, https://doi.org/10.19030/tlc.v6i8.1117 (on reading and stress reduction).
6. For some of us, we experience troubles so severe we cannot navigate out of them on our own. If you find yourself in that situation, it may be time to search for professional help. Talking with a trained professional who understands and shares your values may be required. As we ponder this, we should ensure that we do not allow our pride to get in the way. There is nothing wrong with seeking guidance from those properly trained to give it.
