The most universal goal we humans share is the desire for happiness. The most universal failure is the understanding of how to be happy.

Peace - Happiness without Fear

Happiness without Fear - sounds wonderful, and likely impossible - at least for most of us. But as we lay down a few ideas that frame it up, we find it may be difficult, but impossible? Not so much.

First, let's take on the easy stuff. "Peace with fear" makes no sense. They are in complete opposition. So any talk of "peace - but" is merely proving once again that too often in our thinking, "there's a big but in the way." This is true for happiness as well. "We'd really love to be happy, but."

We can find thrills in fear, but that's more of a "rush," a drug-like excitement, rather than sustained happiness, or joy. The bunji jump experience is likely tremendously scary - but it's tightly bookended. It's not indefinite in length.

One of the first rebuttals to being fearless comes as the "what if a tiger is chasing you." question. It's extra tough to be peaceful at such times. But fear of an imminent attack is much different than the form most of us face each day. What we face is the steady barrage of fear-laden thoughts, both from without and within.

"How do we pay our bills this month." "How do we afford our meds on our fixed income?" "How do we not worry about our kids, our marriages, our aging parents?" "How can not worry about terrorism when it's all over the news?"

Ah, here's the stuff that makes and leaves us terrified. Incessant worries and stresses over situations that we are close to, or are dear to us. But the key here is "incessant." We've become culturally "fixed" into worrying. We can't let it go. We spend some huge percentage of our thoughts on worrisome topics. We spend tons of emotional energy on concerns we can't address. We're scared shitless, and it isn't any fun.

We've all experienced situations where realize we're freaked out about something which we have no control. "Terrorism" is the term in vogue for a current nightmare that could impact any or all of us. And yet 99+% of the time, we have no impact on terrorism. The only substantial impact of our thoughts and feelings is on ourselves and those around us.

Deciding to Change

The transition (or transformation) to a less fearful condition is likely going to take some time. It's surely going to take a good deal of effort and letting go, since breaking these patterns is not easy. But there are tremendous rewards, personally and for the world we interact with. First let's clarify the goal.

If we define peace as "the absence of fear" and we're getting off to a fairly accurate start. But that's not enough. Peace has its own intrinsic qualities that are quite positive and pleasant. But they are "not of this world." That's because peace is not of this world, either. Even the tranquility of a quiet meadow, or ocean-side under a full moon, or the gentle warmth of a hearth, all seem to have an "other worldly" flavor to the experience.

Peace is an eternal value, an essential aspect of "God." It's a quiet contentment that smiles on the world. When we identify with the God/Life/Love within, we can touch it. When we identify with our bodies, doomed to pain and death as they are, we're not going to find peace. We're not aligned with it. Like love and happiness, peace exists in the world of "ethereal energy," not the physical one.

Internal Challenges

More potent (and important) than the exterior challenges to peace are our internal challenges. The mindset of fear is deeply conditioned in our world, and early adaptors to something better must swim against this tide of fear.

The "internal challenges" come as the result of ancient demons that have dominated the human psyche, our imprinting (the domestication process) and our personal predilections. The internal upholders of these fears can be described as "Our Judge," "Our Victim" and "Our Belief System" - a nomenclature for aspects of our minds that keep us from experiencing our totality (another word for the truth of who we are). We far too often are caught up in one of those roles in our thinking toward ourselves and each other.

For a good time, or as a sort of personal parlor game, watch some analysis or commentary on the TV and try to discern: judge, victim or belief system energy? There's a small chance you'll see something that reminds you of honest discourse, but that's unlikely in corporate media.

Commitment

Peace, or happiness without fear, will not come easily to the casual participant. It takes a substantial commitment to pick oneself back up, time and time again, after some assault that rocks our state of mind. Hearken back to learning to walk or talk, huge challenges, and yet we took them on in stride, pursuing a need to communicate and belong. The same childlike effort can be a great key to finding peace. And you can tell when it's the real thing - because "it passeth all understanding."