“I learned that the interior of life was as rewarding as the exterior of life and that my richest moments occurred when I was absolutely still.” – Richard Bode
Where is your calm place? The other day, my 5th graders and I were discussing the concept of peace. The idea we were focusing on was where or in whom you seek peace. We talked about how being outside is a way for us to have peace. I shared with them how multiple studies have shown how just being outside can help reduce stress. We even talked about how being around certain people helps us have peace. The goal is to seek out these places of peace, even if we are not stressed. Too often, we don’t try to deal with our anxiety until it becomes an issue. But the best way to deal with it is by having time during your day and week to experience peace even if you are not stressed. This keeps us grounded and prevents us from hitting those levels of high anxiety.
Something that always brings me peace is travel. I love visiting new places or even revisiting old ones. When we visited Bruges, Belgium, it wasn’t peaceful for us initially. My wife and I both had to use the restroom, and the hardest thing to find in some places in Europe is a restroom. We walked about a half a mile in Bruges looking for the nearest bathroom. We found one that only took coins, and we only had cash. Then we finally found one that took cash, and we were able to find some relief. After that, we were at ease. We toured the Church of Our Lady, seeing some of the amazing art and design inside. We walked around the city square. Then we stopped for a Belgian waffle on a stick because we were in Belgium, and why not have a Belgian waffle? Here are a few of the photos I captured while we were there.
