What Is Inner Peace?

I talk about inner peace a lot on this website. It’s in the tagline, after all. The concept seems self-explanatory, but I thought I’d take the time to detail what my definition of inner peace is, because understanding it will help us achieve it.

My college philosophy professor first introduced me to the concept of inner peace years ago. He called it “perfect peace”. It’s the goal. The ideal state of being. It’s what everyone wants. Inner peace means being perfectly content, mentally, physically, emotionally. You have no fears. No worries. You have no wants, needs, or desires. No stress. No anxiety. No troubles. No fear. You just are. It can perhaps be considered an enlightened state.

Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? But the unfortunate truth is that perfect peace is very difficult to attain — or more accurately, very difficult to maintain. If there is even the slightest splinter in your mind, you are not experiencing true inner peace. The slightest concern — even if it’s just a thought — can sneak its way inside your mind and disrupt your contentment.

Think of it in terms of percentages. True perfect peace is 100%. Every day, that number fluctuates up and down in correlation with our thoughts and emotions. Bad things cause it to go down, while good things cause it to go up. The thing is, even if you get up to 99%, all it takes is a single thought to disrupt your inner peace. Sometimes you may actually get up to 100% for a moment or two before you think of something — something you need to do, something you’re anxious about, something you fear — that makes your number drop. Even worse, that thought often pops into your head without warning and takes root there, growing until it becomes the central focus in your mind and causing your peace percentage to plummet. Because of this, perfect peace is very difficult to maintain for long periods of time.

My objective, therefore, is to learn how to first achieve inner peace, and then maintain it for as long as possible. This is a constant and never-ending process. Having 100% perfect peace all the time is a sign of true enlightenment, so the best we mortals can do is practice as frequently as possible. Much of this practice involves being mindful. We must be self-aware enough to recognize when we feel a moment of perfect peace, and then reflect on what led to that moment.

Inner peace is achieved through innumerable sources. QLE focuses particularly on simplicity, technology, and perspective, among others. That’s what this website is about: finding inner peace through different means. The more columns that support our inner peace, the more frequently we can achieve that blissful state.

Of course, what gives me inner peace may not work for you, and vice-versa. But as I’ve said before, my goal is to document my experience with inner peace in the hopes that you may find my successes and failures useful in your own search. Plus, it’s nice to have company.