Peace in Your Home

• 1). Keep your home tidy and well-organized. Living amongst clutter does not foster peace. Continually sort through items that tend to pile up and become messy, like old mail and magazines, and dispose of what you don't need. Store what's left over in a place where it won't get in the way. Be vigilant about this. If you don't make it a habit, your home will get cluttered again quickly and it will be more difficult to maintain a sense of peace there.
  
  
• 2). Address interpersonal problems with others in your household as soon as they arise. Do not let them fester. Peace is not always gained through passivity. Actively keep and maintain it through discussion. If you let anger and disappointments fester, they will eventually create an atmosphere of tension and bitterness, and there will be no peace.
  
  
• 3). Pause and exhale before responding when you get into a heated argument with another member of your household. Often disagreements escalate because each person is intent on getting the best of the other. Before you respond, take your time and think about the best thing to say to diffuse the situation. It might mean letting the other person get the last word. This may be a blow to your ego in the short run, but in the long run it could give you a greater likelihood of peace.
  
  
• 4). Practice a conciliatory attitude. When approaching a disagreement, remember three rules: be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. It may take awhile to get used to following these guidelines, but it will go a long way toward creating harmony in your home.
  
  
• 5). Share your desire for peace with others in your household. It's hard to work for peace if you're going at it alone. Also, few would argue against having a peaceful home, and getting everyone else involved would make it easier to achieve and maintain peace.
  
  
• 6). Discipline your children firmly and consistently, without showing any favoritism. Otherwise, your children will push your limits much more often and more boisterously, and this will create unnecessary discord in your home.
  
  

Peace in Your Life

• 1). Set aside some time each day to reflect and take stock of your life. Think back to the hardest or most stressful times of your life, and see if you have learned everything you could from them.
  
  
• 2). Learn to accept yourself and manage your expectations realistically. Accept that you are not perfect and that you never will be, so be kind to yourself when you fail to meet your own expectations, or the expectations of someone else. The more comfortable you are with yourself, the more peace you will experience.
  
  
• 3). Avoid comparing yourself with other people. Envy and jealousy do not foster peace. Everyone experiences these emotions from time to time. When you do, take some time to focus more on your path in life. Count your blessings and learn to appreciate your life, realizing that it is unique and special in and of itself, regardless of how it measures up to others.
  
  
• 4). Organize your time. Remember to allow yourself periods of rest and relaxation. This will lead to a healthier sense of well-being with less rushing and stress.