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Peace at the Cost of Nothing

Human is a creature full of desires. Many perceive the fulfillment of one's desire equals happiness, or even serves the meaning of life. And, on the other hand, the failure to fulfill one's desire is seen as the absence of value, meaning, happiness or any other notions one might relate to the fulfillment of desire. 

However, I believe that the absence of desire itself is, on the contrary, the root of a peaceful life. Even so, it has never been an easy quest to accomplish. But, I think that, perhaps, the key to this seemingly-impossible path to live a life without any desires lies on the core of ourselves.

We were born into this world one day. And as we grow up, we learn a lot from our life experiences. Losses, failures, victories, success, and many more. We were born in distinct physical appearances and grew in different families and environments. It has been our nature to see the differences between us and other people. It has been our nature to compare things because, that way, it will be easier to recognise and differentiate them. And, it has always been our nature, also, to classify things as good and bad in life.

Our minds are designed to judge and evaluate things. For instance, we know that going to work to earn money is a good thing to do since we have a family to take care of. We know that stealing from someone is a bad thing since they might have worked hard to earn it. We know that being together with someone for a few years doesn't mean we could make them stay with us until the end. We know that a friend, even the closest one, might stab us in the back someday and we never saw it coming.

But sometimes, we might think we know too much when, in fact, we never really know. We think we know that living in a mansion with numerous rooms is better than living in a small house consisting of only four rooms. We think we know that working in one of the biggest companies in the country is better than working as a cashier in a small department store. We think we know that getting a certain amount of salary every month is better than our current monthly salary. We think we know that getting married to that particular person is better than with any other person. Even so, do we really know?

The only certain thing in this life is, none other than, death. We never really know whether someone will leave our side one day, but we know for sure we will die someday. We never really know whether we will succeed or fail to pursue our dreams one day, but we know for sure we will die someday. We never really know when we or our loved ones will pass away, but we all know for sure each of us will die someday.

When we die someday, will we take any of our possessions with us? Will we be with our loved ones for certain in the afterlife? Will there be light or darkness for us on the other side? When we die someday, everything will perish before us. Our possessions, our wealth, our fame will turn to nothing when there are only bones left of us. 

And yet, here we are getting jealous of a co-worker when they are getting promoted to a higher position, getting mad at our boss for not giving us high salary, getting jealous of a friend who gets married earlier than us, getting mad when others could afford a car while we cannot do the same. Do we really have to live this life in this pitiful way? Isn't it tiring?

I don't think 'peace' is a luxury. It's not even expensive. You don't need to be a billionaire to be able to live a peaceful life. Even being a billionaire doesn't guarantee you to have a peaceful life. Peace comes from within, inside ourselves. It's not about being the best or the better one in anything. It's about being at peace with yourself. It's about being at home within yourself. When you feel at home within you, you will stay peaceful even when you fail at something or when someone else does better in something than you. After all, everything in this world is momentary.
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