Finding Peace in Troubled Times

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights of your life to choose love and light.

I’ve many things to be thankful for including the reality that, because I know and understand the teaching of Dr. William Glasser, I have the ability to find my way through difficult, challenging and scary times. Actually, I wrote about it in 2018 in Staying Sane in A Crazy World.

Blending Dr. Glasser’s Reality Therapy© and Choice Theory© with The Serenity Prayer, I show you how to find that sanity, that peace of mind, that can, at times, be missing in our lives.

Here are a 3 of the key principles to staying sane.

#1 – What are your Core Values? Do an honest assessment and Be Specific. For example: if a core value is to be a lifelong learner, do you seek views that are opposite of ones you hold? Do you encourage other people, including children to question what they are being told or taught? If not, what is your definition of a lifelong learner?

My first and most important Core Values is that we are all spiritual beings and are all a part of The Sacred and thus we are all connected. Because this is a Core Value, I see the world and people around me as connected to me. The words from the Bible “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” means I treat other people as part of The Sacred. A challenge comes when I realize I may have not done so. I’m not perfect and sometimes I do not live up to my Core Values.

What then? Correct course. Apologize if appropriate. Make amends if appropriate.

What not to do? Blame the other people/person for my choice. Assume they will do something to me to “pay me back”. Build a stronger wall that will keep us apart.

#2. Break it down. Most of the time when we see ourselves struggling and liable to fail, we turn to the negative instead of breaking it down. For example: the world isn’t operating like it has for centuries or at least how we think it was operating.

To break it down, we’d need to be willing to educate ourselves as to whether that was true or not. Perhaps we were younger when it happened. Perhaps it was a generation or two before us. Perhaps it was in another part of the country or world and we didn’t hear about it. Perhaps we did hear about it but dismissed it as not something that would ever happen to us.

Once we’ve sorted things out, we’ll know what to do next.

Image by BlueJay18/Deposit Photos

#3. Make a plan. That sounds so simple and in many ways it is, however, in making a plan that fits Dr. Glasser’s teachings, the plan can only depend on us, the plan maker. It is our plan. We create it and we work it and we tweak it if needed.

Simon and Garfunkle’s “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” has a line “I will ease your mind”. In dark times, it is up to us to do it for ourselves. For some of us that will mean relying on our spiritual practices whatever they may be. For some of us it may mean time in nature, watching funny movies, getting out the old picture albums and reliving earlier times.

We do know what we need in order to identify and clarify our Core Values, to right our course and to make a plan. We might not want to, however that doesn’t mean we can’t.

If you need some guidance to find your way here are some suggestions:

Staying Sane In A Crazy World by Judith Ashley.

Any of Dr. William Glasser’s books and training. The William Glasser Institute – International has member organizations in over 30 countries around the world. To find the group nearest you, check out their website. And since I’ve been involved in the organization since 1978, please feel free to reach out to me in Comments for additional information or referrals.

Learn more about my books, workshops and training on my website JudithAshley.net.

You can find my books at your favorite e-book vendor as well as through Windtree Press. Print books are available at Jan’s Paperbacks in Hillsboro, OR and Arte Soleil in Portland, OR. Get the addresses from my website. And be sure to ask your library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshley.net

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2024 Judith Ashley