"Peace is not a state - it is a choice, and you have to remake it every day. It's possible to get a sort of stability, a habit of peace, but it's like an egg balanced, spinning, on its point: lose your momentum, and your equilibrium is gone, too." ~ Nick Harkaway

This quote reminds me of ballet classes I took for a few years long ago. Oh how I loved learning how to spin and not fall down. 

The key to the pirouette was to keep my eyes focused on one spot, the same spot, each time I turned my head around. I never became an expert spinner. I was happy with one complete turn. Maybe I got up to three. Maybe not. But I remember the joy of getting the balance with focus, not just in my head, but in my body. It's like the feeling we got when we balanced on a two-wheeler and rode on our own for the first time.

Peace is like that. Making peace. Building peace. Keeping peace. We have to choose again and again to keep our focus on peace even when every time we turn around there is a trigger, an upset, an irritant, something that can disturb our peace.

But the more we practice peace, the better we'll become. And when we become prima peacekeepers, we'll still have to choose to practice peace every day. 

So, starting today, let's stay focused on the things that keep us balanced: being kind, accepting and respecting differences, listening to understand, refraining from gossiping and judging, smiling, forgiving...

But the way, the last I knew, the Guinness Record for pirouette spins was 55! 

With love, toward peace,
Charlene

THE ELEVENTH GIFT IS LOVE: It will grow each time you give it away.  - from The Twelve Gifts of Birth