I Need Peace in my Life. What Should I do?

Originally asked on Quora, below is my reply.

Contemplating by the Sea (GRAY, Unsplash)

1. Understand that you are your own boss; only you have the power to control what you react to and what you don’t. The sooner you realize this, the more you’ll learn what’s worth responding to and what’s not.

2. Control what you can and leave what you can’t. It’s not worth the stress.

3. Visualize your life long-term, e.g., in ten years- unless it’s life-or-death, your stressors aren’t that big of a deal.

4. Like #3, use the Rule of 5- if it won’t matter in five years, don’t spend more than five minutes thinking about it.

5. Stressing decreases your lifespan, so just laugh the problem off instead.

6. The basics: meditate, deep breathing, sufficient sleep (7–8 hours), exercise, proper dieting, and practicing anxiety management techniques. Ergo, take care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually, and in some cases, financially too.

7. I learned this one from my teacher: if something goes unexpectedly wrong and you can’t fix it, say, “Oh well.” It’s instantly and psychologically enriching- try it.

8. It’s not the end of the world if you fail. However, we’ve all done that at times, so you might as well embrace the fact sooner.

~Carerra, 2k21.