protect your peace
start tuning things out.
“How satisfying it is to dismiss and block out any upsetting or foreign impression, and immediately to have peace in all things.” - Marcus Aurelius
You know how easy it is to lose your peace. It doesn’t even take much- one headline, one message, one careless comment from someone you love, and suddenly your breath becomes shorter- faster. You drift into anger at the news, at politics, at the world’s endless stupidity. You get frustrated with the people closest to you, the ones you want the best for, the ones who should know better by now. Their mistakes irritate you because part of you carries their potential on your shoulders. And yet, all of this takes something precious from you- your peace, your wellbeing, your right to walk through the day unbothered.
That’s why I want you to start tuning things out -not to avoid life- but because you’re protecting the only life you get to live. You stop people-pleasing, stop softening your truth, stop carrying the burden of making everyone feel good about themselves. It’s exhausting, and you’ve seen how bending yourself backward gives you nothing but resentment and a long list of avoidable problems. Offend some people. Honesty might feel harsh in the moment, but it frees you from hating yourself. Letting go of people might feel cold, but it frees you to find those whom you fit well together.
I also want you to stop assuming the worst. You know how quickly your mind can build entire stories about people’s intentions- are they toxic? You know the sleepless hours spent replaying interactions, filling in blanks based on hunches. So you choose something kinder- you watch first, respond second, and let other people’s mistakes remain where they belong- with them. You put your energy where it pays dividends- on your character, your standards, your behaviour.
And because life is full of distractions designed to drag you into comparison, self-doubt, and worry- I want you to focus on the work that builds you instead of the noise that weakens you. Starve your triggers. Challenge yourself. Refine your craft. Hold yourself to the standards you expect of the person you’re becoming. And when people or situations fall short of those standards, you let go without bitterness because your peace is worth more than your pride.
So you tune out everything that disturbs you- every doubt without a solution, every voice that drains your confidence, every task that doesn’t move your life forward. You turn inward, toward the part of you that is steady and strong and trying every day. You give yourself the chance to enjoy the happiness you’ve earned through effort and honesty. Because you deserve peace. You deserve contentment. And you deserve a life shaped by what you can control- not ruined by what you can’t.
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P.P.S: Most people loved the series on How to Deepen Your Friendships, Part I, Part II & Part III. Also check out the practical entries on How To Deal With Toxic People, How to Process & Overcome Grief & How to Prevent and Overcome Burnout. Happy reading!
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I love this. For better or worse, attention is a zero-sum game and its checkbook must always be balanced.
Paying attention to crap not only takes away from your ability to tune into things that bring wonder and delight, but also actually erodes your working memory.
As I wrote: “I find myself doing this increasingly often—I pick up my phones to check the time or weather, see a notification, tap it, and suddenly I’m entirely derailed.
The thought dissolves.
The intention vanishes.
The thread is gone.
My internal monologue goes something like this: Wait…what was I doing again?
Answer:
Nothing.
Everything.
Whatever the machine told me to.
“Distracted from distraction by distraction,” as T.S. Eliot would say.”
More: https://www.whitenoise.email/p/we-built-the-neuralyzer-from-men
this made me feel better. thank you