Peace is in You.

I spent this past weekend with my wife at a local lake community.

Every city has a lake somewhere. A refuge from the hustle and bustle of what our lives have become.

I know I am not the only spouse, parent, or leader who has returned from a trip and made the following statements.

"I'm not gonna get burnt out again..."

"We need to do this more often..."

"I'd trade all the things to feel this relaxed..."

The truth is that random commitments, birthday parties, gymnastic classes, church, and general life stuff immediately clog up our calendars.

I'm sure you have similar patterns; all of us do.

Those patterns can change, however, and let me remind you that you're in the driver's seat despite your frustrations.

No matter how many attempts and failures you've had at getting your energy back, the secret sauce to recovering from burnout is getting present.

Finding the ever elusive, yet always present, now.

All cultures have faith, and baked into every religion is the Godhead, an origin story, the masculine, the feminine, the divine, and the demonic.

The demons of modern life aren't hooded figures or monsters in the dark but rather anxiety, lack of focus, despair, and an almost universal feeling of isolation in our new digital world.

But the path back to Peace is always in the here and now.

Worry, dread, guilt, shame, and rage always begin in thought.

Part of the reason so many of us are struggling with "mental health" is that we are barking up the wrong tree.

Trauma and the lingering effects of persistent stress live in our nervous system.

Mindfulness and body-based techniques are easy to learn and can be practiced anywhere.

Nothing brings calm and immediate peace like meditation.

It is there in silence that we watch the stress float away.

We can step back and witness the thoughts, stress, urgers, and ambitions that make up our ego story.

Mindfulness helps us have compassion for that frantic version of ourselves that still feels it needs to prove its worth or to earn love through achievement and sacrifice.

But here, in the glistening presence of now, we have inherent and infinite worth despite worldly achievement.

We glow like diamonds and walk on sacred ground.

Relax in that peace today.

It's under the clutter of your to-do list and notification tones.

Peace comes factory installed on the human hard drive.

Be still today, friend, and be kind to yourself.