Symptoms of Inner Peace

Many of you might have received the below poem in an email which was making its rounds some years ago. It had struck a chord with me and I had it pasted near my office table till it fell off the board this morning from ageing sticky tape!

The author is said to be Saskia Davis. She had written this in 1983, while serving as the Director for the Northwest Center for Attitudinal Healing, an organization founded on the principles of Inner Peace.

Symptoms of Inner Peace

An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

A tendency to think and act spontaneously, rather than on fears based on past experiences.

A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others and judging other people.

A loss of interest in conflict.

A loss of the ability to worry.

Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.

Frequent attacks of smiling.

An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.
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Saskia says:

"as the author of the Symptoms of Inner Peace, I want to say that it has been my experience that there are times in some of our lives when we are growing spiritually, and things can feel out of control, even good things like Inner Peace. At those times, I have found there are a few things that are helpful:

(1) To find someone to walk with, metaphorically speaking, someone who can either relate to what you are going through, or if not, at least someone who will not judge you in a negative way or develop fear. This might be a friend or a spiritual teacher or even a spiritually oriented therapist, someone whose path you respect.

(2) Another thing that is really essential is physical work. Work helps us to ground our new experience of self in the physical world.

(3) And, finally, a sense of curiosity and patience is required, because when we are in the middle of transformation, sometimes it is pretty difficult to see who we are becoming; and it takes a while before it all begins to make sense. Meantime, curiosity can help keep us out of fear and judgement against ourselves."

(Credit: Saskia comments from http://dreamunit.net/blog-en/?p=36 )