Anything that costs your mental health is too expensive

Why did Thich Nhat Hanh say that nothing is more important than your peace? Most of the time we’re not aware that our choices have a profound effect on our mental state, even the small ones. For example, we might sit down to scroll through Instagram for an hour - but we may not notice that we feel more unsettled, dissatisfied with our life as a result. 

That’s because we’re on autopilot most of the time; one of the key benefits of training yourself with mindfulness is waking up to those interconnections in life and seeing the relationship between choices we make in one moment and the effect on our body and mind in the next moment. All those little choices come together to have a massive effect on not just you, but the world.

You might ask - but there has to be circumstances where you have to sacrifice your peace, your mental health? One way that people do that is in relationships - they’ll endure disrespect and abuse because they don’t want to be alone. But a relationship must be something that contributes to your mental health, your partner should have your wellbeing at the top of their criteria when making decisions. 

People might also argue - well, what about your job? Surely work is an area where you have to sacrifice some of your peace to make the world a better place - like a nurse or teacher? It’s true that work can be stressful at times but work should never be actively detrimental to your mental health. No workplace should take advantage of someone’s calling, but sadly that often happens because people think that's how work has to be - but it really doesn’t. See your workplace with fresh eyes, with a beginners mind, like you’re seeing it for the first time. If the workplace needs to change, then start that conversation with your colleagues and question any employment culture that doesn’t value wellbeing. You can be that leader that brings mindful awareness.

So why is our peace, our mental health more important than anything else? Its because of your connection to the world and every person’s connection to everyone else. The most important impact we can have on the world is in the millions of little interactions we have with it every day. When those are kind, compassionate and nurturing, the world becomes a more kind, compassionate and nurturing place. When we’re stressed and our interactions are the seeds of anger, anxiety and sadness in them, the world becomes a darker place.

When we stop every day and make time to be still, we build our ability to focus our concentration. With focused concentration comes calmness and a better mood - that's what most people think of then they think of mindfulness and meditation, and they’re right - but it’s just the start of the ripple effect. When you develop your calmness you start to gain insight into your suffering; what are the circumstances across time that led to me feeling this way. With enough calmness the perceptions, the revelations, the understanding into your own mind and body come to you with no effort. And with those revelations comes a great release of pain and suffering, as you understand yourself you finally offer compassion to yourself. You’re finally kind to yourself. You’re finally at peace and free. 

When peace arrives, your awareness of the people and world around you intensifies exponentially. You see the suffering of other people, you feel it and you feel compelled to act to relieve that suffering. And act by act, person by person, the world becomes a kinder place. The world needs kindness right now.

And it all starts with you. With your breath, being aware of breathing in, being aware of breathing out. Working on your calmness a little bit every day is a revolutionary act. And when we do this together, that world of kindness, love and compassion is within reach.