Time to Create Greater Harmony with Yourself?

One thing I have thought about about over the years is harmony and it goes back to the quote by Joseph Campbell –

“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.” ~ Joseph Campbell

So today, I wanted to share a bit more about harmony.

What is Harmony?

There are many definitions on harmony, however the ones that most resonated with what I mean include –

• “a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts; congruity.” ~ Dictionary.com
• “Harmony is the combination of separate but related parts in a way that uses their similarities to bring unity to a painting, drawing, or other art object.” ~ Cambridge Dictionary
• “If people are living in harmony with each other, they are living together peacefully rather than fighting or arguing.” ~ Collins Dictionary
• “a situation in which people live and work well with other people, or in a way that does not damage things around them.” ~ MacMillan Dictionary
• “The term harmony derives from the Greek ἁρμονία harmonia, meaning ‘joint, agreement, concord'” ~ Wikipedia

Quotes on Harmony –

There are many quotes on harmony, however some include –

1. “Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” ~ Thomas Merton
2. “You are only afraid if you are not in harmony with yourself. People are afraid because they have never owned up to themselves.” ~ Hermann Hesse
3. “Always aim at complete harmony of thought, word, and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
4. “The simplification of life is one of the steps to inner peace. A persistent simplification will create an inner and outer well-being that places harmony in one’s life.” ~ Peace Pilgrim
5. “One must marry one’s feelings to one’s beliefs and ideas. That is probably the only way to achieve a measure of harmony in one’s life.” ~ Napoleon Hill
6. “Happiness is mental harmony; unhappiness is mental inharmony.” ~ James Allen
7. “A life in harmony with nature, the love of truth and virtue, will purge the eyes to understanding her text.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
8. “The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress, is the easiest type of existence.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale
9. “If you are depressed you are living in the past if you are anxious you are living in the future, if you are at peace, you are living in the present.” ~ Lao Tzu
10. “He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

After readying the above, definitions on harmony and the quotes above, what does harmony mean to you? Besides the quotes above, one thing I keep remembering for me is –

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

3 Ways to Create Greater Harmony With Life

After reading the above information on harmony, do you think harmony would be useful to cultivate in your life? If so, some examples of ways to create greater harmony include –

1. Start a Mindfulness Practise 

Mindfulness has definitely helped me to be more present and content with life. It can be practised both formally and informally.

Informal practice involves bringing mindful awareness to your daily activities (i.e. exercising, chores or any other action you find yourself in).

Formal practice involves taking specific time out to intentionally sit, lie, walk or stand and focus on the breath, body sensations, sounds, smells, tastes, thoughts and emotions. There are some ideas here about how to start practising.

“Don’t meditate to fix yourself, to heal yourself, to improve yourself, to redeem yourself; rather, do it as an act of love, of deep warm friendship to yourself. In this way there is no longer any need for the subtle aggression of self-improvement, for the endless guilt of not doing enough. It offers the possibility of an end to the ceaseless round of trying so hard that wraps so many people’s lives in a knot. Instead there is now meditation as an act of love. How endlessly delightful and encouraging.” ~ Bob Sharples Meditation: Calming the Mind

2. Identify What Is In Your Control and What Is Not

Quite often in life we think we have control over many things, however have you ever sat down and really reflected on what you have control over? When I talk about control, I am referring to influencing the outcomes I would like through my decisions, skills, attitude, work ethic and actions. When something is outside of my control the outcome is left up to “fate” and I have little influence on the outcome.

A few years ago when I was being challenged by control and feeling a deep sense of responsibility for things outside of my control, the following quote came in to my life –

“I can find only three kinds of business in the universe: mine, yours and God’s. Much of our stress comes from mentally living out of our business. When I think, “You need to get a job, I want you to be happy, you should be on time, you need to take better care of yourself,” I am in your business. When I’m worried about earthquakes, floods, war, or when I will die, I am in God’s business. If I am mentally in your business or in God’s business, the effect is separation.” ~ Byron Katie

3. Knowing Your Core Values!

Yes, you have them and it is important to know them and live YOUR values (not someone else’s). Over the years I have had other people try to put their values on me and it didn’t feel quite right or in alignment with who I was. Subsequently, I made conscious changes in my life. I love this quote from His Holiness Dalai Lama –

“Developing inner values is much like physical exercise. The more we train our abilities, the stronger they become. The difference is that, unlike the body, when it comes to training the mind, there is no limit to how far we can go”.

Over to You…

Do you think creating greater harmony in your life could be useful? If so, how could you cultivate it? Feel free to share your responses or questions below. When we live in harmony with our authentic selves and align our work, habits, relationships, money, thoughts, and actions with our true values, we experience a greater sense of peace and wellbeing in each aspect of our lives.

Also, if you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and opening your heart, why not join our Toolkit?