Protect Your State of Mind

True Peace Through The Right Routine

Introduction

There is one thing every human being has in common with one another and that is the common quest for peace. Knowingly or unknowingly we have been programmed to search for peace. What differs is how we choose to get there, but at the root of it the underlying motive remains the same. In this letter you will get to understand the different ways in which we search for peace, the importance of our state of mind, and what we can ultimately do to protect it.

My quest for peace began when I didn’t even know it. The earliest memory I have of this quest came as a young boy at a time where my daily actions reflected this one thing: My peace of mind was more important to me than my responsibilities. Therefore I would do a number of things to protect it. Spending hours playing playstation instead of doing my homework, was a way of protecting my peace of mind. When I became a teenager I developed new ways to protect my peace of mind. Alcohol became my greatest solution I knew and it always worked. The weekend became my idea of heaven and the purpose of the week was lived in anticipation just to get there.

These various habits and practices throughout my life suggested one thing. Happiness was the most important thing to me and beneath it all was the temporary peace it brought to my mind. When a temporary fix works like magic, human beings will attempt to make it everlasting by repeating it over and over again just to remain in that place of euphoria. This is when a practice becomes an addiction. I say this to show you that just because a problem is true, doesn’t mean the solutions we provide are also true. The common problem is that we want peace of mind - this is true. The common solution is that we follow our hearts to find it - this is false. If peace of mind remains the goal, then how can you truly find it and protect it at the same time?

Getting High to Protect Your Peace

When you find temporary peace, your natural human obligation comes in the form of protecting that peace. Therefore the practice of protecting peace becomes your routine. For example, “getting high” simply means the process of using drugs to alter your state of mind. In this scenario, your state of mind becomes the problem and getting high becomes the solution that works temporarily as your mind is altered. From this you will develop a routine of keeping yourself in that state of pleasure. You might wonder why this is such a bad thing. It is because your responsibilities will pay the price. A big problem you will face when you begin to understand what your God given responsibilities are, is that practising them won’t always bring you the same peace of mind. This is because chasing the same thrills that brought you satisfaction before was a counterfeit of true peace. Your appetite will need to be changed to now enjoy the value gained from pursuing genuine peace.

“Getting High” doesn’t always come in the form of drug and alcohol abuse either. If your motives are wrong then practices such as going to Church can also give you your temporary high. For instance, looking for a word that speaks to your desires but you have not developed a lifestyle routine that allows you to experience the fruit of true peace and transformation. If this is you, don’t be arrogant enough to think you’re immune from the problem. Mixing cheap thrills and cheap highs with the things we are to do removes the potency of the acts that ought to bring us peace. Even Jesus had a routine that allowed for peace. He was seeking the father because he was seeking his will not his desires. (Luke 22:42)

Whatever your solution for peace might look like, getting high should never be the goal. The will of God being done is the goal.

Repurposing Your Mindset

In the last letter we spoke about your God given vision. Now you must repurpose your mind to look at your vision as your responsibility which means you have to see your responsibility as the will of God and your dedication to seeing that will be done. If your responsibility is your God given vision and peace of mind, which we all search for, is also the will of God, then there has to be an alignment between the two. Therefore it is not God’s desire to take peace away from you as you pursue your vision and responsibilities, there is a way to enjoy peace whilst His will is being done.

Following His will substitutes temporary peace for eternal peace. Eternal peace isn’t something that can only be experienced when we die. It can be experienced on this side of eternity through following the routine or lifestyle that God has set out for you to follow. God is an extremely intelligent designer. Therefore everything about our bodies were intended to work for His will and not against it. You were created to chase after his will and peace will follow you; not to chase after the peace that doesn’t last.

Seeking God, Finding Peace

This is the mindset shift that truly protects your peace. You protect your peace when you are able to find willingness in the things that you have been called to do. When your routine is no longer seen as a daily task but a daily opportunity. God actually intended for us to view it this way and it can be evidently seen through the intelligent design of mankind.

Take dopamine as an example. A neurotransmitter made in your brain that plays a role as a “reward center” in many body functions, including memory, movement, motivation, mood, attention and more. You become addicted to dopamine when you forego your responsibilities for the thrills that dopamine provides in a variety of ways. This leads me to think: “why has God created us with such neurotransmitters in the first place?” This is because dopamine was created to bring pleasure to His will as a reward of following it.

He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

Have you ever wondered why you feel at peace after completing a hard task? Have you ever experienced the feeling of mid-task motivation? Where you are so engrossed in a productive task that you become even more motivated to continue? The Bible talks about God being a rewarder of those who seek him. This brings to light the purpose and the intentions behind the neurotransmitters and reward systems our bodies have been created with. When you are in a flow state your body goes into an optimal state of consciousness where you feel your best and perform your best. A daily routine inspired by God was never intended to deny you peace, especially seeing that God intentionally created us with these natural reward systems. But here’s the problem:

People have exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Romans 1:23

When you chase “the high'' as a means of finding peace of mind, you make it your god. From a biochemical point of view, dopamine is who you seek and you subconsciously develop a routine around that. This takes up the form of habits and addictions. The thrill is what you live for; it is no longer a reward granted by who you live for. If you live for the thrill of peace, you will do anything to protect it. Therefore you should be willing to do anything to protect everlasting peace once you understand what it means to live for the will of God.

Finding Peace, Protecting Peace

I do my best to protect it by enforcing a routine inspired by God’s will for my life. The more I stick to my routine, the more I am able to experience peace. If my ultimate goal is to conform to the image of God and to bring about his will here on earth, then my lifestyle should begin to take up the shape of that. If I was designed to seek peace then I was created to seek God. Through seeking God I am beginning to see the difference between the peace that lasts and the peace that the world offers. I am sure we all agree that we desire peace, but where are we best suited to find it?

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

I want to assure you all of one thing; peace is not something difficult to attain. Peace is something Jesus delights in giving to us. But like anything worth keeping, it requires intentionality to maintain. There is however a counterfeit peace that we can often mistake as the real thing because its rewards stimulate our brains in similar ways, but there is true peace that lasts. Here are some practical ways to remain in this peace or to even find it.