Choosing Peace

Choosing peace sounds beautiful until you realize how often you have to choose it.

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It isn't one brave decision that changes everything.

Sometimes you choose peace in the morning and have to choose it again by lunch.

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You choose it when you don't send the message.

When you stop explaining yourself to someone determined to misunderstand you.

When you realize an argument doesn't need a winner because you don't need to participate in it at all.

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You choose it when you stop chasing an apology.

When you let someone have the wrong version of you.

When you say no without writing three paragraphs explaining why.

And sometimes you choose peace by admitting that something you once fought desperately to keep no longer belongs in the life you're building.

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Peace isn't always quiet.

Sometimes it sounds like a boundary.

Sometimes it looks like walking away.

Sometimes it means disappointing someone who benefited from you having none.

And sometimes it's simply deciding that today, you are not giving something another minute of your energy.

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You won't choose perfectly every time.

You may return to old habits. Answer the message. Reopen the door. Explain yourself one more time.

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That doesn't mean you failed.

It just means you get another chance to choose.

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Something to sit with:

Where in your life are you spending your peace trying to control something that was never yours to control?