Just Peace

The Task of Peace

I’m a taskmaster. I love making lists, and I love the feeling of completion. I love my routines and habits, and I love getting things done. Today began the same way every day does for me, with a series of tasks designed to get me to my desk as quickly and efficiently as possible. When I arrived, I spent time in silence, in scripture, in prayer, and in gratitude. Then I read, studied, journaled, and wrote. This is my warmup for and welcome to the day. My warmup leads into my daily task list. I create a list and from that list, I choose one “most important task.” Today, I chose the task of peace. Just peace.

Living at Peace

As a taskmaster, I enjoy living with intention and making things happen. I love the sense of moving forward with purpose and direction. My personal mission is to “love, enjoy, inspire, encourage, and positively impact.” My wildly important goal is to “live life better and help others do the same.” Each day, I keep this in mind as I choose one “most important task” for the day. That task will help me close the potential gap between who I am and who I aspire to be. This morning, I skimmed my list and selected my one most important task. A task that could help me love and enjoy this day. A task that could help me live life better. A task that wasn’t even on the list. I chose the task of peace. Just peace.

SMART Peace

We taskmasters know that things don’t just happen. We have to make them happen. So my question became, “how do I make peace happen?” I decided to approach finding peace by planning and preparing for it. If peace is the goal, I need to be a SMART about it. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. A quiet mind leads to peace, so I chose to intentionally stop and breathe. I even set a timer to remind myself to stop every fifteen minutes.

Just stop.

Just breathe.

Just say, “just peace.”

These peace breaks are SMART snacks for my mind. SMART snacks of wellness. They are specific, measurable, actionable, and relevant to my goal of overall wellness. They are also timely. I originally planned to take four of these “just peace” breaks, but I’ve found myself going well beyond that first hour. I believe that was a good choice. I believe I really needed some peace today. Just peace.

Achieving Peace

I’m a taskmaster. I love to set and achieve goals. This morning was a success. I've met my goal. I’ve felt peace. I’ve been still. I’ve been intentional. At last count, I was at twelve “intentional” breaks and several more “accidental” breaks. I’ve found myself just stopping and breathing without even hearing my timer go off. I’ve decided I’m going to keep this going today. I’m getting things done. I’m making things happen. I’m knocking things off my big task list, but I’m doing it with peace. Just peace.