Well, I think I found my C-3PO.

For years, I had listened to YouTube videos for personal growth and development. They range from Mel Robbins to Tony Robbins, Les Brown, Bob Proctor, Brian Tracey, and lots of TED Talks. I listen when I’m cleaning, sewing, organizing, and at one time or another, I listened while I worked (I had been doing the job a very long time and could multitask).  Yada yada, I’ve learned a lot. Check out the videos of any of the people I’ve mentioned for a boost of motivation.

Anyhoo, those videos are great for getting one off their ass and believing in themselves. At least, that’s what I took from them and put into practice in my life. But lately, YouTube has been recommending Stoic videos to me.

According to Google, “The Stoics were a school of Hellenistic philosophers founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens around 300 BCE, who taught that virtue (wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance) is the highest good and that happiness is achieved by accepting what is beyond our control. They focused on living in harmony with nature, rationality, and controlling emotions to achieve inner peace, or ataraxia.

As I listened to the most recent one, 10 Stoic Rules That Manifest Everything You Want | Stoicism Philosophy for Success & Wealth, this idea stuck with me:

[copied from the video transcript]

‘Epictetus (a Greek Stoic philosopher) taught, ‘No one can hurt you without your permission.’

This goes deeper than just emotional resilience. This is about understanding where your real power lives. Every time you say, “I can’t be happy until or I’ll feel successful when,” you’re essentially handing the keys to your kingdom to someone or something outside of yourself.

Think about how exhausting it is to live this way. Your mood depends on other people’s opinions. Your confidence rises and falls with your bank account. Your sense of worth fluctuates with external validation.”

I’m telling you it was a wow moment for me. And it should be for anyone who watches or hears it.

We’ve (myself included) given away our power in so many ways. Life and those closest to us have all played a role in why we’re so easily able to give away our power. And guess what? When we give away our power, we give away our peace.

Wow, I know, right?

The change I made to take back my power has been in the works for years. This did not happen overnight. It took work, awareness, for the contstant attention to my thoughts. That in itself is a discipline that, to me, is just as difficult as giving up eating sweets.

But the one thing that has helped me get onto the path of peace was believing that I deserved to be there.

That’s the hardest part.

Once we believe we deserve to be on the path of peace, we will be on it. 

So, how do we get there, to that belief?

Start here.

Every single day, look at yourself in the mirror. Don’t hold any judgments about yourself. Let your critical self have a day off, look into your eyes, and hold that gaze for a few seconds. See the inner child in your eyes and smile at them. Say “hi” or “s-up” or whatever. Just acknowledge the younger you.  Say you’re sorry. You are sorry for ignoring that part of you for so long.

The inner child part of you is your foundation.  A shaking foundation equals a weak structure. We need to fortify our foundations before we do anything else to improve our lives.

Say hi. Acknowledge your younger self. Tell them, “I forgive you,” and mean it.

When you believe that, I can promise you peace will follow. You will be on the path of peace. 

We hold so much angst against ourselves that we can’t relax, can’t be at peace with ourselves. When we’re mean to others, lie to ward off judgment, or hurt someone because we think we can, we have no peace in our hearts. It’s a life full of chaotic ups and downs, shaped by your external environment.

It’s when we go inside ourselves that we can calm the chaos and be happy and at peace with who we are, where we are, and what we are doing.

Say hi to your inner child in the mirror. Forgive them. Eventually, the more we honor that part of us, the more we’ll see positive changes begin to happen.

The path to peace resides within us. It’s not hogwash or guru talk; it’s legitimate knowledge going back thousands of years to ancient Greek philosophers who understood the plight of being human.

What do you have to lose to try it? 

Thank you for reading, and I would love to know if this is something you’d try to help you find peace in your heart.

To the path to peace,

Francesca