Ok, I’ll be honest here. Inner peace is not my bag. It isn’t exactly something I have a great deal of experience of. You see, I have suffered mental turmoil for my whole adult life in the form of anxiety, clinical depression, OCD, and ADHD, to name a few. Many times I have been so ill, I didn’t know if I would make it back to normality. Looking back, I know what triggered it. I used to work way too much, and burn the candle at both ends. I drank way too much too, and when combined, I think I was at my lowest ebb. What helped enormously was quitting alcohol, taking up exercise, and eliminating the major stresses in my life. Making my body strong was an excellent confidence boost, and my mind benefited too. Things were great for a few years until lockdown, when my exercise routine was rudely interrupted. A long bout of ill health followed; something I’m only just recovering from. People close to me practice meditation and seem to have excellent mental strength and composure. It is something I’ve tried and tried again to do, with varying levels of success. What brings me peace these days is my wife, my granddaughter, my garden, and my art (including my blog). My wife has taught me more about peace than meditation ever did. My granddaughter teaches me what happiness is. My garden brings me beauty and joy, and my art focusses me and keeps my creative juices flowing. What my poor mental health has taught me is that we should not take our health for granted. We should be grateful every day we wake up feeling well, and even when we don’t feel good, we should try to find even the smallest glimmer of peace in every day. I dearly hope you can find yours.