Again, a yoga practice. Again, what I needed to hear.

I needed to hear it so much that I literally Laughed Out Loud when the instructor read this Dalai Lama quote.

Don’t let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.

I will come clean, and I’m sure it’s no surprise. I used to offer up my inner peace for destruction (if I had even found any) over and over and over again. To repeat myself, I was trained and groomed and carved to do so, and I adhered to and abided by and built my very psyche and existence around the “right” behaviors from my cult upbringing. The “right” behaviors that carved me to live my life only for the sake of others and their needs and happiness and wants and beliefs and… well you get it.

That s—t don’t fly anymore. But it’s taken me a dang long time to get here.

My inner peace is mine to find, to create, to hold onto, to build, to lean into…. well, you get the idea again.

It’s mine, and I don’t have to let it shift or fall away or even be swayed by what’s happening outside of me. Even when I care about what’s happening outside of me. Even when I care a lot.

And when I let it shift and fall away and even be swayed, I always, always, always have the choice to come back home.

My inner peace has evolved and deepened and grown and blossomed with a lot of attention and intention and dang hard work and healing. So much so that also in my yoga practice today, all I felt inside me much of the time was yellow light and love and birds.

Such joy.

Well, that and cursing the instructor with “don’t you realize I’ve had two major surgeries, chemo, and more and that I don’t have abs or pecs anymore, as my kid likes to remind me!”

All in all, a beautiful Saturday morning. A beautiful (hard) practice. And a glorious reminder of my inner peace and love and joy.

How about you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, and please share this post with others if it resonates with you. Let’s start a movement of loving ourselves First Most Always™️!

The post don’t let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace appeared first on Motivational Speaker, C-Suite Advisor, and Creator of Joy | Lisa Kohn.