{"id":490,"date":"2014-03-17T19:39:03","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T23:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490"},"modified":"2014-03-17T19:39:03","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T23:39:03","slug":"attaining-inner-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490","title":{"rendered":"ATTAINING INNER PEACE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Hugging-the-Coast.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-491\" alt=\"Hugging the Coast\" src=\"http:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Hugging-the-Coast-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"474\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Hugging-the-Coast-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Hugging-the-Coast-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a>Our objective should not be to eliminate all unhappiness but rather to balance it with increased opportunity for joy. Buddha may have reminded us, <i>A hundred loves, a hundred losses. No loves, no losses, <\/i>but are we prepared to abandon the potential for love because we fear the potential for loss?<\/p>\n<p>Would there be any value in giving up our rights to search for a single sliver of happiness because we must first dig through a mountain of sadness to locate it? For that matter, would we not search for truth because it is hidden among deceit? Or would we not seek honor because we feel that it is surrounded by contempt? Or not seek courage because it is covered with cowardice? Or not seek morality because it is shrouded within an immoral society?<\/p>\n<p>Happiness is ours to discover despite the deterrents that stand in our way; it is our human right to be elated despite a world that flagrantly flaunts its despairing side. Our purpose, therefore, is to strive toward a sense of internal peace within ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>This does not mean that we will live in perfect contentment but rather we will be contented with ourselves. The difference is that the former implies an unrealistic, stress free state of consciousness while the latter implies that we are in conscious control of our state of gratification.<\/p>\n<p>We will feel it is possible to rise above the vagaries of unhappiness that may surround us. We will resist the feeling of being dragged into a maelstrom of discontentment because we will see ourselves as the calm center of the storm. And our joy will abound through our sense of calm purpose being recognized and lived through our daily actions.\u00a0 Inner peace then becomes our right and our choice.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" id=\"sharing-facebook-490\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=twitter\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\" id=\"sharing-twitter-490\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=linkedin\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\" id=\"sharing-linkedin-490\"><span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=pinterest\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span>Pinterest<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-stumbleupon\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-stumbleupon sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=stumbleupon\" title=\"Click to share on StumbleUpon\"><span>StumbleUpon<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-google-plus-1\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-google-plus-1 sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=google-plus-1\" title=\"Click to share on Google+\" id=\"sharing-google-490\"><span>Google<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=email\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-64841909-490-69e0194b718b4' data-src='\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/#blog_id=64841909&amp;post_id=490&amp;origin=ourlifepurpose.com&amp;obj_id=64841909-490-69e0194b718b4' data-name='like-post-frame-64841909-490-69e0194b718b4'><h3 class='sd-title'>Like this:<\/h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height:55px'><span class='button'><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading...<\/span><\/div><span class='sd-text-color'><\/span><a class='sd-link-color'><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our objective should not be to eliminate all unhappiness but rather to balance it with increased opportunity for joy. Buddha may have reminded us, A hundred loves, a hundred losses. No loves, no losses, but are we prepared to abandon the potential for love because we fear the potential for loss? Would there be any [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" id=\"sharing-facebook-490\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=twitter\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\" id=\"sharing-twitter-490\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=linkedin\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\" id=\"sharing-linkedin-490\"><span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=pinterest\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span>Pinterest<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-stumbleupon\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-stumbleupon sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=stumbleupon\" title=\"Click to share on StumbleUpon\"><span>StumbleUpon<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-google-plus-1\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-google-plus-1 sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=google-plus-1\" title=\"Click to share on Google+\" id=\"sharing-google-490\"><span>Google<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=490&amp;share=email\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,6,17,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-life-of-values","category-inner-strength","category-paths-to-happiness","category-rational-thinking","category-unifying-principles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":492,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions\/492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}