Serenity is contagious

Julia ♦ January 18, 2021 ♦ Leave a comment

Bonsai trees at the Montréal Botanical Garden, May 2009

“We are not going to change the whole world, but we can change ourselves and feel free as birds. We can be serene even in the midst of calamities and, by our serenity, make others more tranquil. Serenity is contagious.” — Satchidananda Saraswati

Serenity has never been my strong suit, but maybe that’s why I admire others who have it.  In fact, almost nothing is as comforting in a crisis as to have someone taking decisive action while remaining outwardly calm.

I like to think in the past year I’ve learned, if only through sheer necessity, to avoid at least a bit of the over-reacting that is so intrinsic to my personality.  In any case, I have had the chance to watch a lot of competent, compassionate people who have done their jobs well in situations where the outlook wasn’t encouraging and the news wasn’t good.  I’ve been grateful time and again for those professionals who know how to be realistic but reassuring; pragmatic, but positive.

Have you ever known people whose peaceful demeanor made you feel relaxed just being around them? I can think of so many times when such people have provided islands of sanity in circumstances that were potentially upsetting or volatile.  Though we often think of serenity as a passive trait, it can accomplish more than some of the driven behaviors we fall into when stressed.

If you have a gift for serenity, I hope you will use it to bless others who find themselves in harrowing situations.  And if, like me, you wish to increase your own capacity for this trait, keep your eyes and ears open for those who have mastered it.  They have much to teach us.

One year ago today

Infinitely healing

This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.