Day #209 in A Year of Positivity

“Being at peace means: You no longer have the need to prove anything to anyone. You don’t need outside validation. You don’t need to tell your side of the story anymore, even when you hear a dozen rumors that tell an untrue version. You used to guard your heart, but now you guard your peace because you know your peace is worth more than proving yourself to anyone.”—Unknown

I don’t know who came up with this quote, but it certainly could’ve helped me avoid so much drama and stress over the years. I enjoy writing about drama in my books, but I loathe having to deal with it in real life. It’s one thing if there’s an issue with someone I care about that requires my attention and a resolution. I’ll absolutely deal with it as needed, because it’s me with them. I will do everything I can with as much patience, gentleness, grace, peace, and forgiveness as I can muster before the matter reaches a boiling point, because yelling leaves a bitter taste in my mouth that I cannot stand.

It’s an entirely different story if the situation is me-versus-them, where I feel I have to prove something to them. Those who don’t care about me won’t accept anything I say or do to prove my worth anyway, and for those who do care, they won’t need me to prove it because they already know it. I’ll admit that there’s one little part to this quote that I’m in disagreement with, which is the part about guarding the heart. I think it’s just as essential to guard our hearts as it is to guard our peace. Guard your hearts from vipers, and guard your peace from anyone or anything that makes you feel like you have to prove yourself, because you don’t.