Inner Peace

Last Saturday, I arrived home from a school interview, the warmth of the afternoon pressed shyly on my skin, and it was very sunny outside.  In the backyard, birds were idly chirping, and all around the house there was dead silence. So, I got settled in the house and tried to work on my other school applications only to realize I had lost all motivation to do anything; and fatigue, both from mental and physical exhaustion, was draining in my veins slowly, slithering like a venomous snake. However, I had a remedy ( It was time to PRESS PAUSE) – the basketball court in the park just right across from the house had an alluring invitation, and I could not resist the temptation. I dropped everything I was doing, with excitement I was on my way.

Once there, I monopolized the court with a deep sense of admiration and possession. I rolled the basketball in my eager hands, bounced it against the ground, and focused my mind on the pleasant sounds of bouncing basketball, squeaking of my sneakers and swishing net.  Measuring with my eyes the distance to the basket, looking back at the ball that kept bouncing under my hand, looking back at the basket – I stopped for a second, pushed the ball up causing it to twist three times in the air and finally the ball came back in my hands.  This time my gaze toward the basketball was like that of a predator at its prey, and I threw the ball in attempt to score. My breathing stopped for a moment as I waited to see if it reached the target, and hooray I scored! Pride settled deep inside, and I picked up the ball with more vigor. I dribbled, dribbled but yet, after a few successful and failed attempts to score again, my anxiety managed to kick back in. The ecstatic experience I felt at arriving on the basketball court just minutes ago slowly sunk under the rush of the feelings that kept tormenting me. But I refused to give in into this temptation to stress out but instead decided to get my mind right following the steps we learnt in the “ R” Factor series class the Sunday before. I pressed pause, re-framed my thought process, and refocused to stay above the line. As Tim Kight said I was telling myself “Don’t believe everything you think”.

In my distress, I dropped the ball, lifted my eyes up to the serene sky and cried out to my God saying “Father, I cannot take it anymore!” At that moment, a gentle breeze brushed against my cheeks. I closed my eyes and I heard His voice as a soft and comforting whisper: “Hang in there, my dear child. <Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand>”.  He was there with me, and at that moment all the chaos surrounding me disappeared; it was just me and my Lord. And the light breeze kept coming at me and taking away, with it, the heat of the day, my anxiety as well as my burden. In my head I was thinking: “I want to keep this sacred moment and cherish it forever. He is my strength. He is the one who raises me up and holds my hand. He is the one who will never let go of me.”

I picked up the lonely ball and restarted my game. After I was done, I returned home feeling renewed more than ever.  I had inner peace, I was motivated to get things done and meet the deadlines; new ideas were flowing through my mind like never before. It was a great way to wrap up my day for sure.

Let me end on this note: One thing I took away from that evening is that in life we think that we may never have/enjoy inner peace in the midst of challenges and hardships; this is NOT TRUE at all. Most of the times, when I hear the word peace it seems to be something that has to do with having ideal conditions in every aspect of our relationships as well as other areas of life. Truth is that , in this life, it may never be the case. If you want temporary peace you might have it in transient circumstances. But if you want lasting peace you might really want to learn how to find it, and keep it in the midst of ups and downs. TRUE life story!!!