Inner peace

Inner peace was once defined as the "moment you choose to not allow a person or event control your emotions". 

Lets identify the keyword here: choose

You can always, I repeat always make the conscious decision to allow yourself not to be affected by the things around you. Its' easier said than done but inner peace is an achievable goal and many steps can be taken to achieve this desired inner peace.
Firstly, you can choose to not allow the stresses of everyday life and the negative energies surrounding you consume you. Simply because, just as we learnt in science, although energy cannot be created, it can be transferred. So how best to avoid being contaminated with negative energy...well, you simply move away from it.  I cannot stress how important inner peace is, it actually puts things into perspective and adds some balance to life.

I don't know about you, but for me personally, inner peace comes second in my list of importance, after positive self image.
Above all, inner peace is highly ranked by me because I just feel that I can't function as I'm meant to when I'm not at peace with myself. Where some people aim to be at peace with others, I wonder how anyone can prioritise that when they don't have inner peace. It's a bit like love right? How can you love others when you lack the ability to love yourself. There's a reason why in the Bible it says to love others as yourself and not the other way around.
Yes, being selfless should be the epitome of being a great human being, but let me assure you, it is okay to be selfish sometimes. Appropriate selfishness is something we need to learn to do, it's been a while but I'm still trying to teach myself this. From my observations, I cannot please everyone or keep everyone happy. Truth is, I am not responsible for other people's happiness; the only person whom I am responsible for keeping happy is myself. But that does come with limits. Remember what I said earlier about appropriate selfishness, well in some instances if something such as stealing a bike will make me happy, that does not mean it is right to do so, because that would make me inconsiderate to the one I stole from. Learn to make yourself happy where it counts, yes you're responsible for your happiness but your happiness should not have the intention of making others miserable.

So, to round this up, the common denominator in all of this is you. Your inner peace and  your happiness are all about you and the acceptance of yourself for who you are and working to achieve a better, more peaceful and happy you. 

Food for thought: "Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without."