The six ingredients for global peace

Like a recipe, peace is made up of various ingredients that must be present in measured proportions and achieve a good balance of flavors. We are none the wiser for a meal that looks appealing if its taste does not live up to its outward appearance. So true peace must not consist solely of a temporary façade, but of a genuine and lasting essence.

Peace can also mean something different to each of us, and like any recipe, its ingredients can be adjusted to reflect our tastes. Or we can choose to add new ones. However, some key elements cannot be changed.

The key ingredients are those we can create ourselves from the basic elements we all possess. All you need is milk, eggs, and flour in the fridge to make a good béchamel sauce. The key elements of peace come from ingredients available to us all, such as empathy, emotional sensitivity, rationality, or simply our very humanity.

We are the chefs of our own lives; we mustn't forget that. The only ingredients we'll find in the fridge are those we've put there ourselves. Of course, sometimes we might not have certain ingredients, but a good chef knows how to cook a delicious dish with whatever is available.

Here are the key elements for global peace:

1. Self-awareness: you cannot be at peace with the world unless you are at peace with yourself. We can start with emotional intelligence (or, in more complex cases, therapy) to understand our strengths and weaknesses. Knowing what we don't like about ourselves or what makes us feel uncomfortable means not projecting our own shadows onto others – or at the very least, realizing when we do.

2. Empathy: we must be able to put ourselves in another person's shoes, at least for a while, at least in certain situations. We must know when it is appropriate to understand the other person and defuse the situation. Much of what others do has nothing to do with us. Understanding this lays the foundation for peace.

3. Processing: Each of us, at some point in life, is put to the test. In some cases, very severely. Yet some of us become more bitter, whilst others become wiser. When something painful happens, we must feel the pain and process it. If this processing does not take place, the pain is repressed into the unconscious and resurfaces in a worse form, often projected onto others.

4. Reframing: After processing painful or significant events, the next step is to learn from them. 'Turn your pain into meaning' is not just a saying, but a reality. Transforming what has happened to us into a driving force for change helps us see things from a different perspective and reduce our anger at an injustice suffered, if we consider that perhaps there was a specific reason it happened. This creates lives filled with peace and serenity, rather than anger and resentment.

5. Harmony with nature: nature is always there, all around us, even if we don't realize it. Loving and respecting it is not only good for the earth, but also for our inner peace.

6. A philosophy of life: or rather, something to believe in. Whether it is karma, divine justice, scientific progress, or God, it doesn't matter. Believing in something gives our lives meaning and offers hope in times of difficulty.

You will have noticed that these elements stem from each and every one of us, from qualities that we all possess. Creating peace within each of us is the only way to create peace in the world.

The blogger