This essay is about peace of mind: what it is, and how to get it. Peace-of-mind is the absence of psychological turmoil: worry, depression, anxiety, anger, dissatisfaction, and other negative thoughts and emotions. We live in a society that seems to breed these feelings. The gap between the rich and the poor is large and growing. Health care is expensive and is increasingly becoming a luxury of the rich. We are awash in guns, and violence saturates the news and the entertainment. This creates a lot of stress. Some turn to drugs to overcome the negative thoughts and emotions. There is no doubt that drugs work in the short term, but in the long run they are likely to bring more stress than they relieve. Aside from the health concerns, drugs lead to legal problems.
According to the ACLU (2006), African Americans make up 15 percent of drug users, but account for 37 percent of those arrested on drug charges, 59 percent of those convicted, and 74 percent of all drug offenders sentenced to prison. Eighty percent of the defendants sentenced for crack offences are African American, despite the fact that more than 66 percent of crack users are white or Hispanic. It is difficult to get a job with a prison record, which creates even more stress.
We can achieve peace-of-mind in the midst of all this by thinking. Dr King said that “nothing pains some people more than having to think.” Thinking can be difficult and requires a strong mind. Effective thinking takes practice and requires that we carefully choose our perspective and remain focused on it. It requires that we have the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
The phrase “mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it don’t matter,” speak to the power of perspective and to the power of being able to let go of the things we can’t control and to focus on the things we can. It takes a strong mind to think this way. Like a muscle, the mind has to be exercised to be strong. Our daily life is the gym where our mind is trained. The challenges and hassles are the weights. Doing assignments on time and to the best of our ability is creating mental strength. Every time we are patient with those around us and refrain from violent behavior our mind becomes that much stronger, and we achieve more peace.