Over many decades people came to see me with many different problems, each of which appeared to be in need of a different solution or approach. If I look at my own life history, I see the same pattern there. It seems I have had a litany of problems to be solved, in relationships, financial troubles, or simply the trials of any particular day. One of the most important lessons I have learned is the way in which we should try to see these “problems.” I have come to understand the many issues of our lives are just the vapors of a smoke screen hiding the only true problem to be solved: our belief in separation, and our lack of the awareness of love.

Today, as I do most days now, I try my best avoid being deceived. What does not being deceived mean to me? I means that I remind myself that peace of mind is always an internal condition that then radiates outward. I remember that peace is not a condition to be achieved, but a timeless state of Oneness to be remembered.

Thus, peace must begin within our own thoughts, and then, and only then, can it extend outward. I do my best to remember, when I am challenged or upset, that it is from a peaceful of mind that a peaceful perception and experience of the world is born. I am by no means perfect at remembering, but I am better each day, each week, each year. It makes me smile, in this moment, to think of this progress over the span of decades. It is satisfying to me feeling this sense of purpose in my life, for in this moment, I know where peace begins.

We each have many different goals, so many seemingly important reasons for going through the day. Or, at times, we experience depression because we can no longer see any reason, no purpose and no goals at all. For me, this day and each day, Inspirational Psychology offers this remedy: to have only one primary motivation, one purpose, one goal, one reason to live, one thing I want to demonstrate, one condition I want to intimately know—and this is Love. The experience of Love is the motivation for living this day.

What a wonderful motivation Love is! When my mind is aware of Love within itself I become whole and happy. Such awareness must begin with my thoughts, then effortlessly extend outward. For happiness to consistently fill my days, the focus must be on my mind, not on the outside world—no matter how tempting to blame someone or something, the focus must be always on my mind.

There is a part of my mind that is still very bent on attempting to convince the rest of me that peace is an outside matter, and not an internal condition. This part can be very creative and conniving, the slickest of snake oil salesmen, and if not very conscious I still can fall into the erroneous belief that when upsetting situations occur, my only option is to solve or change the outer situation before I can hope to experience peace. Inspirational Psychology teaches that the road back from this belief is to at a minimum remind myself that I could, in that moment, see peace instead of pain. I do not expect myself to drop what is happening or avoid what needs attention; I simply just remember that peace is possible, even as things are. Even if I don’t immediately experience this peace, at least I am able, through this thought process, to understand how peace is really an internal matter. If you can understand this and accept it, this will change everything. Further, by reminding myself of my own internal capacity to provide peace of mind, I am learning to approach each situation from a more effective point of view. If my mind is at peace, then I can see and react much more clearly and purposefully to whatever is at hand.

This concept is contained, much more simply, in paradox (and today, I remind myself of it): Through seeing that I need to change nothing in the world to be at peace, I can begin to change everything, and bring peace to the world. Even more importantly, I can bring my mind to peace through the awareness of Love without having to first attend to or “solve” all of my “problems.”

May I know in this fertile moment that it is possible to see peace instead of whatever my fearful mind may randomly bring to me wrapped in hurry, worry, and upset. May I know I can respond to each moment, each situation, each person, each “problem” with fearless calm.