Promoting Peace in Your Own World

By: Dina Maaty

We always read reports on how women are often excluded from political and socioeconomic spheres and the UN’s actions to help bring the role women often play in such domains into international awareness. While participating in larger-scale goals is often beneficial for both women and their countries, women can also help bring peace to the world one step at a time, even in their own households.

You do not have to be an activist to promote peace. Peace starts with an attitude towards life, towards others, and in face of challenges. Take a daily situation you encounter: traffic is horrible and you need to reach your child’s school. Rather than gritting your teeth in aggravation and speeding through to the extreme, choose to consciously leave earlier every day than you usually do.

The situation above illustrates a way in which you were about to become part of a problem – you could have hit someone and started a fight, or still arrived late and cursed. However, you brought peace into the situation by choosing the proactive, more involved approach. Even if the damage is done and you are late – being calm and apologizing to the teacher will surely be a better answer.

A smaller arena – the kitchen – is also often a playground for angry battles. With the oven that burnt the food or the pan that fell on the floor, no need to scream your way into the neighbour’s living rooms. The clean-up does not usually take long. And speaking of neighbours – being more tolerant of their habits also brings more peace to the community.

This sort of inner-outer peace interplay is rather important, so never cease to apply it in your everyday life. You are setting a great example for the children and helping the world around you – no need for microphones or banners!