“I wish you peace when the cold winds blow
Warmed by the fire’s glow
I wish you comfort in the lonely time
And arms to hold you when you ache inside” — Bernie Leadon
From the album: One of These Nights — The Eagles
Peace…
That inexplicable feeling when everything is right with the world.
When nothing anything or anyone can do or say to take away the warmth inside your soul.
It’s a combination of calm and excitement that balances the scales of your emotions, while tipping them into territories unknown.
You can’t force peace. But you know when It has arrived. You also sense that in the blink of an eye, it can be gone.
The butterfly lands on your shoulder. But there’s nothing you can do to make it stay.
Yet the mystics among us insist that peace — the elusive butterfly — can never be taken from us — that it lives in a holy place. A place no one can disturb. A place we can beckon at will.
I don’t disagree. I just wish I could agree more.
But I am not a mystic. I’m just a drop in the sometimes bitter spiritual cocktail called life, trying to uncover its secret ingredients one day at a time.
All I know is that peace is what makes that cocktail worth drinking — no matter how bitter it may taste while I’m mixing the ingredients to get the recipe just right.
And then, out of nowhere, comes that special, sweet someone. That someone who adds just the right amount of something to the mix, allowing the components to come together to create something new, while simultaneously retaining their individual flavors.
That person in your life who can give you peace when you least expect it — when you need it most. That person who can calm you down no matter what. That person who knows that the right thing to say is sometimes nothing at all. That person who personifies peace without knowing they are doing it. That person who you realize you’ve been thinking about when you catch yourself smiling for no particular reason in the middle of the day.
That alone is enough to give you peace — to get you through any crisis, no matter how big or small.
Do you have such a person in your life?
Think about them next time you’re poised to complain about something. And give thanks instead.
Cheers.
Trading Barbs With Barb 