Susan Thom

Why Do I Want Peace In My Life


Posted: Friday, June 08, 2007

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I wonder what drives me so to find avenues that help me work on myself. I want to focus on my character traits that need improving like patience, and composure, and inner strength. I want to develop a more relaxing, peaceful lifestyle than the one I have lived all my life. I don’t like getting upset, or feeling out of control. Who wants to be angry, and feel dependent on others, or as if they are at someone else’s mercy? I want to be calm and use my intellect to take care of all the bogeymen. These could be: the woman who stepped on my foot while cutting in front of me in line, or the man who bumped into me with such force at the checkout that I dropped and broke a dozen eggs. How about the car that darted onto the highway, when they had the yield sign? Or my child that is giving me a hard time about taking out the garbage? And let's not forget the dog that is three houses away and won’t come when I call him.

I don’t want these incidents to curdle the blood running through my veins. I don’t want my hands to tremble and my mind to stumble. They have, in days gone by. How else would I know I wanted to change my behavior? I have read many self help books. They did help. I purged a lot of guilt and shame practicing what I read. I learned how to identify those feelings and emotions that were causing me harm. They were draining all of my positive energy and transforming it into negative thoughts and actions and reactions. This caused me to rise to anger quickly, take things the wrong way, and generally have a nasty attitude. I knew this was the norm for me, but until I started reading, I didn’t know how to change it.

My favorite saying I heard Maya Angelou say on Oprah, was, "We do what we know how to do, and when we know better, we do better." This simple statement helped alleviate a lot of the anguish I felt from being so close to anger with my kids as they were growing up. I learned how to deal better by all the avenues I took to get there.

A few years went by, and I started going to a wonderful Reflexologist. As soon as you walk into her home, you feel the warmth, the positive energy, the feeling of calm and peace. She gives a cleansing Reflexology massage, and shares her many years of wisdom with me. I tuck each tidbit away for future use. It’s the only thing I do just for me. It’s as if I’m in another world while I lie on the table. I feel her healing hands release all the positive energy I block throughout the week with all the thoughts I don’t like to think, and all the emotions I don’t want to feel, and all the feelings that get twisted around in my gut. When I leave that room, it’s as if I’m in a different body. I don’t want to twist or turn or carry my heavy purse, or get stressed out, as to ruin the experience of feeling whole. No matter what happens during the following week, I can handle it in a better fashion. And then, it’s time to go again. I believe it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself, and anyone I come in contact with!

I still want to calm down more. Certain things can really upset me, and I have to stop and think about what is happening, and how can I calm myself? A nice hot aromatherapy bath is one way. And talking myself through everything I’ve read, heard, learned, and experienced. There are times those thoughts are a million miles away, and I do suffer because of that, but I am getting better at closing out the harmful thoughts and actions, and reactions to people, places, and things.

I want to feel the way I do when I get off that Reflexology table, or when I’m soaking in that bubble bath, even when things are going wrong around me, and other people are choosing to act in inappropriate ways. I don’t know if that’s possible, but I can keep trying. There’s nothing like feeling that your mind, body and soul are in sync. It’s such a whole body and mind experience. I like how it feels, I guess that’s why I want peace in my life.



Susan Thom is the mother of three children, two sons, 20 and 23, and a daughter 25. Her older son is in the air force in Germany right now, and her daughter is in the army in Tacoma, Washington.

Writing calms her, and gives her a place to go by herself! Clears the head and gets it out. She lives in a rural area, with a lake and mountains, and her partner, and has loved writing since she was a child.

She has been on a journey of self discovery for twenty years, and has learned many things about the human mind, and how to maintain some semblance of calm and peace within.

If someone reads one of her stories, and relates to her feelings, and gets a suggestion on how she dealt with them in a positive way, that would be the ultimate gift of her writing.

This Article has been viewed 1,124 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)
» left by James P Krehbiel
 4 years 244 days ago.
125 fans.
Susan, As per searchwarp, I am making constructiive recommendations for your writing. Your writing style is excellent and articulate. There are some format and content issues in my opinion. First, look at your statement in the first paragraph about being calm and taking care of the bogeymen. The sentences preceeding that remark are fragmented. After the bogeymen statement you could use a colon or hypen followed by a statement and then use semi-colons in between. Did I confuse you? LOL In terms of substance, I would have created more focus. In other words, articlulate a few negative behaviors and demonstrate one way in which a specific treatment assisted you. By taking on too much, I think you might lose the reader's attention. I hope you take these suggestion in the spirit of kindness and caring.
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» left by 4 years 244 days ago.
hi james, i sent you a reply on one of your stories, because the e mail i sent you came back. then i figured this out! if you didn't get it, here it is: hi james, thank you so much for your help, and taking the time to do so. if you like what i write, you must know me a little bit by now. i like constructive help. how else will i get better? i'll go over each thing step by step, and fix it. it's been a long time since this 50 year old housemother has been in school! and even then, i don't know if i would have picked up what you did. again, thank you. please keep reading my stories! best regards, susan thom i think i addressed all you spoke about. if you'd like to reread it, you can see. keep coming with any suggestions. it's kind of you to care. i reached 3,000 hits today. yeah!! thanks, best regards, sue thom
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» left by James P Krehbiel
 4 years 244 days ago.
125 fans.
Susan, I am glad the suggestions were helpful. 3000! Way to go kiddo.
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