CHOOSING PEACE: 
I just got back from a full moon Summer Solstice camping trip in the gorgeous Mt Hood National Forest. We had found the perfect spot: a crystal clear mountain stream, towering conifers providing plenty of shade, lots of level ground for setting up camp, seclusion from the road and other people, and lots of trails for walks with the puppy dog. Ahhh! Let the relaxation commence!
Then, the improbable happened. Over the sound of the gentle breezes and the gurgling water, shredding it’s way through the forest came the unmistakable sound of an amplified heavy metal electric guitar solo.
What the? How could? Huh? I was confused and dismayed. I just couldn’t understand why. It seemed so WRONG.
My sweetheart went to go check it out. The people he met were setting up camp. They were going to be staying a while. They said they would turn down…but didn’t. We let it roll. We joked around about it, but I couldn’t seem to shake that voice in my head that was gathering evidence and building a case against my neighbor, proving that they were wrong, wrong, wrong, and I was right. I was an innocent victim of their horrible, unthinkable assault on my peace–on the peace of the forest!–and I had every right to be angry, to be upset. Why, it’s just inevitable that I’d be upset, right?
The only problem was that the more I proved my case, the more upset I became. Choosing to see myself as right and my neighbor as wrong was not helping me feel better. In fact, my thoughts were quickly spiraling into darker and darker scenarios that actually included physical violence and death!
I watched it happening, and of course, part of me wasn’t buying into it. The wise part of my self, the quiet old soul part, was shaking it’s head and smiling, “Weren’t you just talking about being the peace? Well, here’s your chance!”
I knew it was true. I was being given a gift. If I chose to, I could recognize my neighbor as my teacher and see the experience for what it truly was, a chance to practice choosing to value and keep my peace of mind regardless of external circumstances.
There is no partial loss of peace. I’ve learned that attack thoughts and upset require a total sacrifice of peace, because peace is total. You either have it or you don’t. If you are even the tiniest bit upset, you have given up your peace.
It took me a minute to realize that there was absolutely nothing helpful in valuing upset, other than as a teaching tool to show me what I truly value. Above all else, I value peace. And when I chose peace in that moment, I was able to see with eyes of Love. I was able to have compassion for my neighbor, to see through his perspective, to see that he, too, was a sovereign being in choice, that he too was looking for respite and release in the forest. We simply had different ideas about what that looked like. Or sounded like!
Anyway, it was funny, a hour or so after I had decided to value peace and let go of my condemnation, our neighbor came by to check the sound levels near our camp. We exchanged some words on swimming, fishing, the beauty of the area, and then he went back and turned down the music.
I felt a moment of victory. “See?” I said to myself, “It works! This practice works!”
And…the next day the music started up again at the original level of loudness, but it was okay. I was free.