Let's face it, our environment is a direct reflection of our mental state! If your environment is ALWAYS chaotic, exhausting, and mentally draining, how could you possibly remain positive and upbeat, let alone level up? Some people hate their jobs and then come home and hate their partner, hate their friends, hate their children, and hate their life in general. Consistently surrounding yourself with negative conditions, mindsets, and people, you will eventually be affected negatively. "Protecting your peace" is a phrase that is becoming more common on social media, but are we really putting in the work to do so, or just quoting it for likes? If you don't currently protect your peace, you are making a huge mistake.
Every person has their own energetic field. Another person's negative energy can affect you, whether it's positive or negative. Has someone around you ever had a bad day and their "attitude" rubbed off on you and before you know it, you're in a bad mood too? Have you seen someone so excited, that you begin to smile too? Have you ever been watching a sad movie and cried, because the character was sad or crying? I'm sure you have, because energy is transferable!
I worked in customer service for over 10 years, and towards the end of my call center career, I was DONE with being forced to deal with people vibrating at a low frequency. The money was NOT worth my peace of mind. Towards the end of my career, I DREADED walking into the building of my job to deal with customers cursing me out because THEY forgot their password for the 6th time THIS WEEK or because they didn't understand how to read a credit report, so they call and yell at me instead of writing their password down or simply asking for clarification about the credit reports. It got extremely old and draining to the point that I couldn't focus on anything else but how much I hated my job. A lot of us "settle" for a job that provides us with more stress than benefits. Once my husband gave me the green light to let go and find MY PEACE again, I clocked out an hour into my shift and sent my resignation letter a few days later. I was DONE settling for a career that didn't serve me. Nothing about being in a call center environment allowed me to "protect my peace" once I had outgrown this role.
"Protecting your peace" is more than just quitting a job. Protecting your peace can mean not answering your phone when you're not in the mood to talk, not engaging in pointless conversations, asking people to not complain around you, calling off work and spending the day in bed, saying NO without feeling guilty, speaking your mind, asking people to exclude you from their negativity, taking a break from social media, cleaning your home, or removing yourself from any situation that makes you feel anything less than HAPPY. Remove yourself from toxic situations, selfish and one sided relationships, and people who only use you to benefit them, and watch how much you prosper from having a clear mental state.
I've been a victim of other people's negative circumstances weighing me down my entire life. From hearing constant complaints, negativity, being bullied, talked about, forgotten, placed in the middle other people's issues, and feeling like I was USELESS and never being poured into. It had become my "normal" long before I knew it was an issue. I've been in "fight or flight" mode for so long, I didn't realize that I had given myself none of the love, loyalty, time, respect, or nurturing that I had been giving everyone else. I had poured literally every drop of myself into everyone else, yet no one would return the favor when I needed it and I wasn't doing it for myself either. I've been betrayed, depressed, sad, suicidal, complacent, overlooked, and generally UNHAPPY all because I did not know how to protect my peace from energy vampires. Don't let this be you. It almost led me to a mental institution..... and suicide on numerous occasions.
Before I developed tunnel vision for maintaining my peace, I had no idea how to protect my energy OR peace! I would get one text message or phone call and be mad for the rest of the day about something I had no control over. One person should NOT have had the power over my entire day to the point where I couldn't be happy. Once I came to this realization, I began protecting my peace with my life. I will ignore a text message, ignore a phone call, stay off social media, and get MYSELF together without feeling apologetic at all. No one else on this earth is going to protect your peace like you will.
You weren't placed on this earth to be sad, depressed, feel forgotten, lost, angry, confused, or anything less than LOVE. STOP COMPROMISING YOUR PEACE FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S BENEFIT!!! It's your responsibility to do what it takes to protect your peace. Sure, other people may get angry, because they don't understand what you're doing, but SO WHAT! Your life isn't meant for everyone else to understand, as long as you are happy. Stop wasting your life dealing with argumentative, complaining, negative, low vibrational, combative, and stagnant people and navigate towards internal peace. With all the factors in our day, it's impossible to completely avoid negative situations. That's why it is extremely important to develop healthy self-care habits and learn how to protect our peace in negative environments and situations.
When I feel drained, stressed, or if I just don't want to deal with outside energies, I create a "safe space" for myself, and I retreat to heal and recharge. My safe space is filled with affirmations, changed perspective, meditation, self-care, my goals, love, growth, and positivity. This is where I can retreat to HEAL on my own terms. As of late, I've been in my safe space consistently and I love it here! I am in control of my energy and I do NOT allow everyone access to it. It's not EASY to transition from absorbing whatever energies are given to you into protecting your peace. I STILL fall victim sometimes, but that's fine. It's all a part of the journey.
The BEST way I've learned to protect my peace is by simply changing my perspective about life and also expecting nothing from anyone. I used to be an avid complainer and someone who could only see the bad in a situation. This mindset caused me more pain than growth. Of course bad things will always happen, but I choose to see the brighter side of even the worst situations. I take the good with the bad, and I realized that everything in life is just a temporary phase. I also held people to high expectations, and was let down one too many times, so now I expect nothing from anyone! These two shifts have allowed me to experience mental clarity and peace for the first time in my life. Protecting your peace takes a constant effort and it's not always easy, but I promise you will reap the benefits as long as you remain consistent with your practice.